HFW Shipping Bulletin – April 2015

Welcome to the April edition of our Shipping Bulletin. 

In this edition we cover four cases. Two of the cases are widely considered to return English law back to a more traditional position, one that shows how courts can help protect and one that changes the York Antwerp Rules.

The first case, Spar Shipping, sees a controversial 2013 decision (the ASTRA), that the obligation on a charterer to pay hire is a condition, revisited and not being followed. Both cases were first instance decisions and so it is not clear which will be followed in future.

The next case, Stena Bulk, relates to the protective use of the courts following OWB’s insolvency in November 2014.

Then we take a brief break from cases to look at the impact of illegal migration on shipping and the role Owners and Charterers are sometimes forced to accept.

The third case concerns the yacht CANDYSCAPE, a bust up between client and lawyers, and ultimately, a helpful discussion of the often used broking term “as is where is”. This is the second case that moves English law back to a more traditionally understood position.

Finally, we review a case, the LONGCHAMP, that has altered the landscape of general average. In this case the judge allowed Owners to recover in general average various additional expenses that had been incurred in substitution for a saving in a ransom payment.

We finish this Bulletin with a reminder of recently released Briefings concerning three important cases which we recommend to readers of the Bulletin.

Should you require any further information or assistance on any of the issues dealt with here, please do not hesitate to contact any of the contributors to this Bulletin, or your usual contact at HFW.