We welcome article submissions from experts in the areas of coal, mining,
shipping, etc.
To Submit your article please click here.
|
|
|
Tuesday, 16 June 15
MERS: POTENTIAL CHARTERPARTY IMPLICATIONS - CLYDE & CO
 KNOWLEDGE TO ELEVATE
South Korea's current outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has been the focus of much international attention. The local impact of the outbreak has been severe, leading to nearly 3,000 schools being closed and over 5,500 people being quarantined as a result of possible contact with infected persons. The virus has so far infected over 150 people in the country and the World Health Organization (WHO) anticipates that cases will continue to surface despite indications that the outbreak is now being brought under control. Whilst public health experts do not anticipate any form of worldwide pandemic to result from the situation in South Korea, it is feared that there is scope for a regular pattern of MERS outbreaks to occur over the coming years.
The Potential Legal Impact of MERS on Charterparties
With cruise ships having cancelled calls to South Korean ports and confirmed cases of MERS in the port of Pyeongtaek, the outbreak may understandably give rise to concerns on the part of shipowners whose vessels are due to call in South Korea or the charterers of such vessels. Whether the outbreak will have legal implications on a charterparty will very much depend on the wording of the charterparty in question; standard form charterparties are unlikely to include wording dealing with outbreaks of infectious/contagious disease.
Safe Port Warranties
Shipowners are obliged to follow charterers' legitimate orders unless to do so would expose the crew to unacceptable risk. Whilst charterers under a time charter are obliged to nominate safe ports, in the absence of specific wording it is unlikely that an outbreak of MERS will render a port unsafe.
Even if an outbreak of disease is in the port city itself, as in Pyeongtaek, the port may remain safe as long as there are appropriate protective measures in place. As such, there is significant risk involved in an owner refusing an order to a port on the basis of unsafety owing to disease risk, since to do so wrongly would amount to breach of the charter for failure to follow a legitimate order.
If the facts are such that there is a significant risk to the health of the crew, then charterers may be asked to nominate an alternative port, but this may have knock-on consequences particularly if there are bills of lading issued. The best approach for owners will be to keep in close contact with their P&I Club who will be able to give timely and appropriate guidance as the situation develops.
Where a vessel is subject to a voyage charter, the prospective safety of a port is also an issue and the arguments are similar to those detailed above; as with time charters, it is likely to be difficult to demonstrate that a South Korean port is unsafe on account of MERS.
Quarantine and Deviation
In the event that a time-chartered vessel becomes subject to quarantine delays or is forced to deviate to land an ill crew member, the hire/off-hire provisions may result in the vessel being placed off-hire. The specific charterparty wording would need to be carefully considered to assess whether this might be the case.
Similar concerns also arise in relation to voyage charters. Shipowners may deviate for the safety of the crew but in such a scenario no additional freight will become payable, so such deviation is at their own expense. A defence of 'reasonable deviation' may come into play where the Hague or Hague-Visby Rules apply. In terms of quarantine, the usual position is that time spent/lost at the time of charterers' orders will count as laytime/demurrage, although this too will depend on the charterparty terms agreed.
Free Pratique
In order to commence laytime, a vessel requires free pratique clearance. Absent wording to the contrary in the charterparty, the usual position is that a master can give a valid notice of readiness (NOR) without first having all the customs documents and obtaining free pratique, provided that he has no reason to suppose that being document ready is anything other than a mere formality.
However, if the vessel has recently called to a port in an infected area, then the mere formality test may not assist, since the vessel is likely to be subject to quarantine delays while the health of the crew is ascertained. In such a scenario, unless a charterparty provision states otherwise, owners bear the risk of the delay, since they would be unable to give a valid NOR to start laytime running until free pratique clearance is obtained.
Force majeure
If the charterparty in question contains a force majeure clause, the question may also arise whether the MERS outbreak fulfils the requirements of a force majeure scenario. A typical clause of this type suspends and/or terminates performance of the charterparty on the occurrence of an extraordinary event, which is beyond the parties’ control and which impacts the ability of one or both of the parties to fulfil their contractual commitments. As such, force majeure is usually a high evidential hurdle to clear.
Whilst the WHO has described the MERS outbreak as 'large and complex', the organisation has not issued a travel ban relating to South Korea and although Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have advised against travelling to the country, their notices amounted to recommendations rather than official travel alerts. If the MERS outbreak becomes more widespread and/or travel bans are put in place, the possibility of the situation amounting to a force majeure event may strengthen, however, at present, the scope for force majeure appears limited, unless the wording of a particular clause is quite broadly drafted.
Comment
The South Korean government is working alongside the WHO to bring the current MERS outbreak under control, however as with any outbreak of infectious/contagious disease, the situation may raise concerns for shipowners and charterers who are aware of the potential disruption such incidents can cause.
Parties may wish to consider managing the risk associated with such outbreaks by inserting contagious/infectious disease clauses into prospective charterparties, thus avoiding the ambiguity which can arise in this area.
By Ik Wei Chong, Bethan Bradley and Aislinn Fawcett
About Clyde & Co
Clyde & Co is a dynamic, rapidly expanding global law firm focused on providing a complete legal service to clients in our core sectors.
Clyde & Co advises businesses that are at the heart of worldwide commerce and trade.
If you believe an article violates your rights or the rights of others, please contact us.
|
|
Wednesday, 21 January 15
SHIFT IN INTERNATIONAL COAL TRADE TO THE PACIFIC BASIN WILL CONTINUE - IMF
COALspot.com: The shift in international coal trade to the Pacific Basin will continue, IMF said in its latest Medium-Term Coal Market Report.
...
Wednesday, 21 January 15
MARKET INSIGHT - VASSILIS LOGOTHETIS, INTERMODAL
The World Bank has lowered its forecast for global growth in 2015 to 3% down from its previous level of 3.4% amid rising concerns over the economic ...
Wednesday, 21 January 15
THERMAL COAL PRICE OUTLOOK DEPENDENT ON INDIAN IMPORT DEMAND - MATTHEW BOYLE, CRU
COALspot.com: Supply and demand side developments in India will be an important determinant of future market dynamics and prices for thermal coal a ...
Wednesday, 21 January 15
PORT OF NEWCASTLE COAL EXPORTS JUMP 16.19% ON MONTH TO 15.80 MIL MT IN DECEMBER' 14
COALspot.com: The Port of Newcastle, Australia’s major trading ports and the world’s largest coal export port, has shipped $1.136 billi ...
Tuesday, 20 January 15
INDIA TO SURPASS THE UNITED STATES AND BECOME THE SECOND-LARGEST COAL CONSUMER IN THE WORLD BY 2019 - IMF
COALspot.com: In 2013, coal added more primary energy than any other fuel and was the fastest-growing fossil fuel, enhancing its position as the se ...
|
|
|
Showing 3241 to 3245 news of total 6871 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Australian Coal Association
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- White Energy Company Limited
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Planning Commission, India
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
|
| |
| |
|
