HAL

The start of the new year also brings a change of scenery for us. We have moved office. However, we have only moved about 20 yards within the same business park  so we are now No.7 rather than No.1. Our new address can be found to the right:

On 2nd & 3rd May, Tristan Miller had the pleasure of attending and supporting the inaugural Marine International Insurance Conference 2018 hosted by the Emirates Insurance Association under the patronage of H.E. Eng. Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri, Minister of the Economy, in Dubai. 

The event was sponsored by ADNIC and Clyde & Co and focused on cargo insurance on the first day and Hull & Machinery on the second day. The event also saw a presentation by Lars Lange of IUMI where he annouced that it is expected that the Emirates Insurance Association will become the 42nd member association of IUMI at their conference in Cape Town in September. 

On 25 October 2017 the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the Longchamp case. 

This case concerned the application of Rule F of the York-Antwerp Rules in relation to vessel operating expenses incurred by the shipowners while a ransom payment was being negotiated with pirates. The allowance of these expenses as general average was generally considered to be controversial and the judgment may have an impact on issued, pending and future general average adjustments. 

A paper prepared by Michael Harvey reviewing the judgment and considering its possible impact can be downloaded here.

A friend of ours, Prof. Hassania Cherkaoui of Morocco, has recently published a most useful study of comparative maritime laws. She has advised as follows:

"I created a website specially for my book in order to make it known by the English-speaking countries.

This is the first book in the world engaged in the unexplored study of comparative maritime law.

Analyses undertaken in this book delve into many foreign maritime laws, in particular English, French and American laws. Those chapters devoted to the comparison of Moroccan maritime law with that of 19 other countries yields differences more of detail than of principle. Each study was written by a renowned maritime legal expert from the country concerned.

You will definitely want to read it, after visiting its website which presents it sufficiently:   www.comparativemaritimelaw.com"

From today (30 November 2016) the following limitation amounts will apply to incidents occurring on or after that date.

For property claims for ships not exceeding 2,000GT the new limit is 1.51 million SDRs (up from 1 million SDRs) with the following additional amounts for larger vessels:

• For each ton from 2,001 to 30,000 tons, 604 SDR’s (up from 400 SDRs).
• For each ton from 30,001 to 70,000 tons, 453 SDR’s (up from 300 SDRs).
• For each ton in excess of 70,000 tons, 302 SDR’s (up from 200 SDRs).

For loss of life or personal injury claims the new limit for a ship not larger than 2,000GT is 3.02 million SDRs (up from 2 million SDRs), with the following additional amounts for larger vessels:

• For each ton from 2,001 to 30,000 tons, 1,208 SDR’s (up from 800 SDRs).
• For each ton from 30,001 to 70,000 tons, 906 SDR’s (up from 600 SDRs).
• For each ton in excess of 70,000 tons, 604 SDR’s (up from 400 SDRs).

 
One SDR is currently worth GBP 1.0838 or USD 1.3521.