Maritime London has launched a new look website. The site showcases the breadth and depth of London and the UK’s maritime services sector and provides information for maritime related companies looking to locate in the UK.

The site also contains details of maritime conferences and events taking place in and around London as well details of all Maritime London members.

International Salvage Union (ISU) President Arnold Witte has renewed his organisation's call for new version of Lloyd's Open Form which recognised payments for environmental protection services. He has called on all sectors of the shipping and insurance industries to approach the issue of salvage and spill prevention with “fresh thinking and open minds.”

Speaking at the ISU’s Associate Members’ Day conference in London on 2 April, he said the cost of failure to prevent pollution can run into billions. Against this background he urged the P&I community – responsible for payment of pollution claims – to accept that new approaches to reward for salvage and spill prevention have a significant role to play in reducing the financial impact of pollution claims and, at the same time, contributing to lower levels of ecological and economic damage.

He said: “Many shipowners as well as the P& I Clubs do not accept that there is any case for an Environmental Salvage Award. We will be working privately and, hopefully, with some intensity in the coming months with the P& I Clubs, as well as owners and property insurers, to convince them that there is a more beneficial approach to environmental issues.”

He continued: “Fears that this would mean a huge increase in salvage costs are groundless. Additional costs would apply only when significant pollution damage is avoided. In fact, we believe the Clubs would save money by backing Environmental Salvage Awards. In our view, the best way forward is to work on a new edition of Lloyd’s Form, LOF 2010, to incorporate Environmental Salvage Awards.”

Echoing a warning from London-based marine insurers, their Scandinavian counterparts in the CEFOR market have issued similarly gloomy figures.

According to CEFOR’s 2007 Nordic Marine Insurance Statistics (NoMIS), the average cost of a claim occurring during the period between 1995 and 2003 was USD 210,000. In 2007, the average claim cost rose to USD 386,000. When dividing all claims by all vessels insured, the claims costs per vessel have risen from USD 58,000 to USD 105,000 over the same period. “This pattern is not confined to specific segments of the industry”, explains Helle Hammer, managing director of CEFOR.

“All types of claims, with the exception of fire and explosions, have shown an increase in cost per claim incurred in 2007. Groundings and collisions are by far showing the largest increase. While the costs of all sizes of claims - from small to large - have all become more expensive, the increase is particularly strong for large claims.”

Within different segments of marine insurance, the picture remains distressingly consistent. The members of the International Group of P&I Clubs are faced with a considerable increase in costs of their pooling arrangement, covering claims in excess of USD seven million. Indeed, the severity of large claims is at record high.

According to CEFOR, the high claims cost recorded in 2006 and 2007 is not a result of random fluctuation in claim severity or frequency, but rather a result of several factors that impact the costs of claims. Strong market conditions and the rising costs of raw materials have resulted in price hikes for virtually all claims cost factors, ranging from higher rates for towage and salvage craft, cargo values, pollution combat equipment, replacement parts, and lack of capacity in repair yards etc.

Costs have also been impacted by a negative currency effect, due to the relatively low USD, while repairs are often priced in other currencies. Increased environmental sensitivity has created more complex and costly salvage and wreck removal situations. Buoyant market conditions have also resulted in a shortage of skilled and experienced crews to operate a growing world fleet.

“With cost of accidents due to human error on the rise, this scarcity of skilled seafarers to operate increasingly sophisticated vessels remains one of our main concerns”, warns Helle Hammer.

A case recently reported by the Transport Intermediaries Club illustrates how a marine surveyor can be held liable for substantial damages even when properly performing his contractual duties.

In its latest Claims Review, ITIC reports on a dispute involving one of its surveyor members who was appointed by a bank to confirm the value of a vessel under construction and to certify that additional funds could be drawn down during the construction period.

The bank confirmed that the role of the surveyor was not to monitor the standard or quality control of the ship’s construction, nor its conformity with design. But when defects were found in the ship after construction, the owners sued the shipbuilder, the surveyor attending to the quality control of the build, and also ITIC’s member, who was only acting on behalf of the bank.

Legal proceedings against all the parties took two and a half years to conclude. In order to finalise this matter, ITIC agreed to contribute Euros 35,000 towards the total settlement of over Euros 300,000 which was negotiated at mediation. A further Euros 30,000 was incurred in legal costs.

ITIC says, “This is an unfortunate example of where a surveyor can end up contributing to a settlement even though his instructions and responsibilities were clear from the very beginning.”

A number of Maritime London members including Deloitte’s, Holman Fenwick & Willan, Ince & Co, Nautilus UK, Spinnaker and RightShip will be focusing on the implications of corporate social responsibility (CSR) related issues on the shipping industry and how to implement an effective policy.

According the event organisers, Navigate Conferences, a growing number of leading shipping related companies are taking serious steps to ensure that their businesses act in the most responsible way possible.

Topics under discussion will include CSR and litigation risk, balancing commercial pressures and CSR and how CSR policies affect seafarers.

The event takes place on 8-9 May at London’s City Conferencing Centre.

See www.navigateconferences.com/CSR2008.html for further details.

The Chamber of Shipping has appointed a new communications manager, Claire Sneddon and the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) has appointed a full-time Careers Co-ordinator, Jo-Ann Wilson.

Ms Sneddon joins the Chamber of Shipping’s media and public affairs department. She will also work on the maritime industry’s national campaign, Sea Vision UK, of which The Chamber of Shipping is a lead partner. The initiative works to raise awareness of the sea and the maritime sector in its widest sense.

Jo-Ann Wilson joins the MNTB with a broad range of careers experience, having provided careers advice and guidance across the whole range of career options to individuals, client groups and organisations, special needs clients, young offenders and unemployed people. She will be coordinating the MNTB’s careers activity which has grown considerably over the last few years as a result of the introduction of new degree programmes.

Maritime London member Clyde & Co has highlighted a recent decision in relation to arbitral disputes which "raise for consideration the correct balance to be struck between the important goal of encouraging those who undertake maritime salvage and the interest of sovereign states in preserving their immunity from legal proceedings before foreign courts and tribunals".

The case concerns a salvage operation successfully conducted by Tsavliris, pursuant to a salvage agreement entered into with the owners of the vessel salved, through their managers.

Tsavliris successfully contended that the Lloyd's Open Form (LOF) Salvage Agreement, which contained a London arbitration clause bound the owners of the cargo and that the Grain Board of Iraq (GBI) was the owner of that cargo; that the GBI was liable for cargo's proportion of salvage, and was a separate entity from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Iraq (MOT).

MOT/GBI submitted the arbitrator erred as to his jurisdiction in that the owners were not bound by the agreement: that GBI was not separate from MOT so that MOT was the owner of the cargo, but either way each was entitled to claim sovereign immunity under the Sovereign Immunity Act 1978.

The judge found the owners of the cargo were bound by the LOF based on the facts and under the International Convention of Salvage 1981 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1993, and that GBI was the owner of the cargo.

The UK P&I Club has launched a new DVD aimed at increasing awareness of the causes of P&I claims for cargo damage and loss in the rapidly changing technical and commercial environment of LNG carrier operation.

Gas Matters provides advice on legal, technical and managerial aspects of preparation for loading, loading, voyage, discharging and changing cargo.

The club notes that while misinformed opponents of gas ships have portrayed them as bombs waiting to go off they in fact among the safest ships afloat and have consistently fewer cargo claims than other types of ship.

Nevertheless a rapid expansion of the gas carrier, and especially the LNG, fleet and changes in trading patterns has led the club produce the DVD. Being expensive, such ships are well maintained with some exceeding 40 years in service. They have been operated by a small pool of experienced operators and skilled crew. Above average manning levels and high quality training have kept down incidents caused by human error. Further, most LNG carriers trade on project contracts, shuttling between familiar ports of call.

However, the club cautions: “Ahead of gas shipping lies turbulent change and dramatic transition. It was a world of few surprises but not any longer.”

In the light of recent incidents and the anticipated publication of the MSC Napoli MAIB report, the Nautical Institute is holding a free seminar which looks at the issues behind losses and damage in the container trade.

Speakers
Peter Hinchliffe, marine director, ICS
Karl Lumbers, loss prevention director, UK P&I
Mike Compton, tech advisor, ICHCA International

Chair: Philip Wake chief executive, Nautical Institute

Time: 1730
Date: 12 May
Venue: HQS Wellington

For further details contact Andrew Bell.
E: andrewj-bell@beeb.net

The late Gwenyth Dunwoody MP

The shipping industry has joined the tributes for veteran Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody who died peacefully last Thursday night at the age of 77. Ms Dunwoody, who was MP for Crewe and Nantwich, was the longest serving female Member of Parliament. She had a keen interest in transport and shipping matters and in 2001 became chair of the House of Commons' powerful transport select committee and was a renowned parliamentarian.

Mark Brownrigg, Director-General of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: "Gwyneth Dunwoody was a very remarkable and powerful parliamentarian. Like no other, she kept transport issues to the fore with her unique blend of serious and acute investigation coupled with a teasing sense of humour, which left one alternately at ease and in a state of healthy discomfort.

“Her open approach and tenacity cajoled many Governments into being more active on transport issues than they might otherwise have been.

“Of course she did not always share the shipping industry's perspectives on specific issues, but she was highly effective and cared with passion.”

The former UK SOSREP (Secretary of State’s Representative, Maritime Salvage & Intervention), Robin Middleton, has joined the training team of British casualty media response consultancy TRS.

Robin was appointed the first UK SOSREP in 1999. He stepped down from this post, after a highly successful eight years, at the end of 2007. During this period he responded to over 700 incidents.

TRS says Mr Middleton will contribute to TRS training for shipowners’ Emergency Response Teams in Europe and elsewhere in the world. James Herbert, former award-winning BBC broadcast journalist has also joined TRS to assist in delivering training and responding to marine casualties.

Tony Redding, TRS founder and director, says: “We are proud to welcome Robin and James to the TRS team. Robin won great respect during his service as SOSREP and he brings a wealth of frontline experience to our training and casualty simulations. James’ experience in the media aspects of crisis response will be of special value in responding to high-profile emergencies. We look forward to working with them.”