OVERVIEW:
Our experience in shipping and contracts advisory covers the following areas:
1) Arrest of vessels and contesting orders of vessel arrest:
a) Arrest of vessels for various maritime claims and liens under the Admiralty Act, 2017. Assessing the feasibility of associated ship arrest and arrest based on beneficial ownership. Contesting orders of arrest for wrongful arrest including the issues surrounding furnishing security, counter security and damages for wrongful arrest.
b) Arrest of ships involving multiple secured and unsecured creditors. Assessing the prospects of either prosecuting the claim for a claimant and the prospects challenging the arrest for owners. Negotiating with secured and unsecured creditors for amicable resolution of the claims.
2) Charterparty Disputes:
a) Performance Disputes: Disagreements may arise regarding the performance of the vessel, such as delays in loading or unloading cargo, slow steaming, deviations from the agreed route, maintenance issues, or breaches of speed and fuel consumption clauses.
b) Laytime and Demurrage Disputes: Disputes often occur regarding laytime (the allowed time for loading and unloading cargo) and demurrage (penalties for exceeding laytime). Disputes may involve disagreements over calculations, responsibilities for delays, and documentation requirements.
c) Bunker Disputes: Disputes over bunker fuel consumption, quality, pricing, supply agreements, fuel efficiency, or bunkering operations can lead to conflicts between the parties involved in the charterparty agreement.
d) Off-Hire Disputes: Disputes may arise when a vessel goes off-hire due to breakdowns, maintenance issues, or other events that prevent the vessel from performing its contractual duties. The parties may disagree on the reasons for off-hire and the allocation of costs.
e) Non-Delivery or Misdelivery: Disputes may arise when cargo is not delivered to the intended consignee, or fails to reach the intended destination due to errors, omissions, negligence, fraud, theft, or other reasons, leading to claims for non-delivery or misdelivery.
3) Cargo Disputes:
a) Issues related to the condition, quantity, quality, or handling of cargo can lead to disputes between the charterer and the owner. Disputes involving damage claims, contamination, shortage disputes, or cargo-related liabilities.
b) Issues surrounding switch bills of lading.
c) Short landing claims based on draft surveys across various ports in India.
d) Cargo damage claims due to contamination of cargo due to unclean tanks.
4) Port Authorities claims and disputes:
a) Detention of ships for unpaid port dues. Assessing the levy of port dues based on the scale of rates;
b) Challenging detention orders by port authority;
c) Coordinating with port authorities for amicable resolution of claims.
d) Advising cargo receivers on strategy for dealing with release of cargo detained by port authorities.