court

Court decision clarifies security under Letters of Indemnity

As the UK P&I Club informs, on 21 February the English High Court ordered charterers to provide security for the release of a ship under an LOI given to enable cargo to be delivered without production of the original bills of lading.

Namely, a cargo of coal from Indonesia was discharged at an Indian port under a Letter of indemnity (LOI) as the original bills of lading were not available. Nine months later, a Dubai bank claimed to be the lawful holder of the bills of lading and demanded more...

https://safety4sea.com/court-decision-clarifies-security-under-letters-of-indemnity/

Court decision clarifies situation over MARPOL breaches in EEZ

In case a ship pollutes the waters within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of a country but does not call at any of that country’s ports, it has not always been clear who has the right to impose penalties. However, according to North P&I Club, a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision comes to provide some clarity on the issue.

Specifically, this judgment allows European coastal states to detain and penalise ships for breaching MARPOL in their EEZ, even if the ship did not call at any...

https://safety4sea.com/court-decision-clarifies-situation-over-marpol-breaches-in-eez/

UK CG makes master pay fine by proceeding to seize his vessel

As the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency proceeded to seize Tecoil Polaris, the master of the small product tanker Tecoil Polaris, Vitaliy Trofimov, was found guilty and was ordered to pay an overdue $34,000 fine for major ISM code violations.

Specifically, the court decided that the fines were to be paid within a timeframe of 56 days. Yet, the master didn’t meet the deadline.

Therefore, a follow-up hearing about non-payment, including the possibility of seizing the Polaris as collateral, would...

https://safety4sea.com/uk-cg-makes-master-pay-fine-by-proceeding-to-seize-his-vessel/

Court in Malta decides that ship’s mortgage overrides foreign auction

A ship was arrested in Malta after a creditor obtained a Maltese court order claiming a judicial sale by auction of the ship in Jamaica was ignored. Jebmed SRL were first ranking creditors of the 22,988-tonne bulk carrier Bright Star, which at the time was called Trading Fabrizia, by virtue of a mortgage registered in Malta, where the ship was registered, in 2017. As the vessel went into financial distress while in Haiti and Jamaica, it was arrested by many creditors, such as Jebmed.

Yet,...

https://safety4sea.com/court-in-malta-decides-that-ships-mortgage-overrides-foreign-auction/

Captain hits dinghy with his ferry over parking quarrel

The Bournemouth Crown Court has started trial over a crash incident in Poole Harbour, southern England, September 2017, when the Captain of the 50ft-long ferry ‘Maid of Poole’ reportedly crashed on purpose on a dinghy, injuring the driver, over a parking row, local media reported.

The 35-year-old ferry master was carrying passengers back from Brownsea Island, Dorset, onboard the ‘Maid of Poole’, when he found he was unable to moor in his usual space, due to a small rigid inflatable boat (RIB),...

https://safety4sea.com/captain-hits-dinghy-with-his-ferry-over-parking-quarrel/

Sewol survivors to receive $71,000 in compensation

A South Korean district court ordered the state and ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine to compensate the survivors of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. It decided that each of the 20 survivors should be given $71,000 in compensation for psychological trauma.

Each of the 20 survivors will receive $71,000 in compensation for the psychological trauma they experienced, because of inadequate safety response from the ferry operator and the rescue authorities. Moreover, 76 family members of the 20...

https://safety4sea.com/sewol-survivors-to-receive-71000-in-compensation/

Turkey: Mediation necessary for resolving commercial disputes

The UK P&I Club informed that new articles have recently been added to the Turkish Commercial Code. These articles make it compulsory for parties to refer their commercial disputes to mediation before starting proceedings in court.

According to Mr. Sertac Sayhan of Sayhan Law Office, this means that cargo claims have to be taken firstly to a Mediator before being lodged at the Competent Court.

In summary, the most crucial articles regard the following matters:

  1. Any commercial claims to be lodged...

https://safety4sea.com/turkey-mediation-necessary-for-resolving-commercial-disputes/

Sinotrans gets court green light for privatization

On 10 January, the High Court of Hong Kong sanctioned without modification the proposal for the privatisation of Sinotrans Shipping Limited, the company informed in an official statement. The High Court also confirmed the capital reduction of the company provided for by the Scheme of Arrangement.

The privatization came on the table in September when Sinotrans proposed a scheme of arrangement and withdrawal of the company’s listing. The decision was a result from the company’s poor performance,...

https://safety4sea.com/sinotrans-gets-court-green-light-for-privatization/

Shipyard labor contractors fined for employment discrimination

The US Department of Justice received a court order on December 11, awarding the US $857,868 in civil penalties, along with other relief, in the Department’s immigration-related employment discrimination lawsuit against companies that provide contract shipyard labor.

The court found that the companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against workers based on their citizenship status during the employment eligibility verification process.

The court’s order comes...

https://safety4sea.com/shipyard-labor-contractors-fined-for-employment-discrimination/

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