The Court of Appeal in London has given further guidance on charterers’ ability to limit liability following the High Court decision in the MSC Flaminia (No. 2) reported in our December 2022 edition, giving some important clarification to the types of limitation claims charterers can make.

There are various forms of tiered dispute resolution clauses requiring negotiation and/or mediation before arbitration, and difficulties may arise when the procedure is not followed. A recent English case, NWA and Other v NVF and Others [2021] EWHC 2666, has added further insight to the interpretation of these clauses and the need for clarity in their drafting.

In Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO Insurance Company Chubb [2020] UKSC 38 the UK Supreme Court has (by a 3:2 majority) recently clarified that, in the absence of an express choice of law, the law governing the validity and scope of the arbitration agreement is that of the seat of the arbitration and not the law applicable to the contract.

In The Civil Aviation Authority v R (Jet2.Com Ltd, [2020] EWCA Civ 35), the Court of Appeal in London has recently given judgment on a dispute about disclosure of some of Civil Aviation Authority’s (“CAA’s”) internal documents and e-mails which CAA claimed were privileged due to the inclusion of their in-house lawyers as addressees. The judgment covered many points, but of particular interest was its finding on how legal advice privilege applies to multi-addressee emails.

Since May 2019, there have been six oil tankers attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, four on 12 May 2019 and two on 13 June 2019, all allegedly with limpet mines or drones/missiles. Despite these attacks, vessels are however still taking orders to sail through the Strait albeit at higher war risk insurance rates and no doubt heightened crew concerns. Whilst the occurrence of such attacks might lead to war risk clauses in the governing charterparties being invoked and the war risk insurers applying their own approach to the situation, at what point, under English law, can owners refuse such voyage orders on the basis that the Strait is contractually unsafe?

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Robert is an English qualified solicitor. He deals with dry shipping disputes, mainly concerning charterparties, COA's,  bills of lading, project cargo/heavy lifts, MOA's, and commission agreements. He also advises on shipbuilding and rig contracts/guarantees, salvage, wreck removal, unsafe berths, groundings, fires, collisions, and offshore supply disputes. Robert has worked on a range of insurance matters, including marine and cargo  where he advises on coverage and recovery. Additionally, he has expertise in commodities, including minerals, frozen produce, LPG and veg oils. He also has extensive experience in arbitration and litigation, and has run a large number of international arbitrations in London, Singapore and Hong Kong while based in Singapore. These range from small claims procedures to multi-million dollar disputes. Robert also has experience with drafting contracts, guarantees and insurance policies, as well as with insurance regulation, compliance and start-up issues for company, mutual and captive insurers, including marine, P&I, and property catastrophe. He is recommended by Chambers & Partners for his "considered and comprehensive" style of practice, and Legal 500 for his "prompt, detailed advice".

Singapore

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Robert deals with dry shipping disputes, mainly concerning charterparties, COA's,  bills of lading, project cargo/heavy lifts, MOA's, and commission agreements.