When decisions are made in isolation during critical operations, such as navigation, the consequences of improper execution can be negative, Gard Club warns. Namely, in an isolated decision-making style decisions are made without consulting the people who will be impacted by the decision.
As Gard P&I Club informs, carriers should make sure that they implement solid and comprehensive record-keeping routines of what is declared and known about the specific cargo to be carried, as well as of each step taken to care for the cargo. This may include evidence of market practice for the storage along with carriage of moisture absorbing cargoes.
Gard comments on several cases, that took place recently, that involve banks claiming for misdelivery of coal cargoes at Indian ports. The misdelivery has to do with the challenges that follow when a cargo is delivered without the production of the original bills of lading.
In the latest revision of the Nordic Marine Insurance Plan, it was agreed to restrict the war risk cover to politically motivated interventions, with state interventions falling outside the war risk cover included in the marine insurance cover. The 2019 revision of the NMIP was approved by all parties and the document was published for use by insurance practitioners. The amendments in the 2019 version vary from small clarifications in clauses to more substantial re-writing of individual clauses.
Disputes regarding “off-spec” or contaminated liquid cargoes are a repeated problem and shipowners may have no independent evidence as to the cause of an alleged cargo contamination. However, if the cargo is “off-spec” when the vessel arrives at the discharge port and there is no evidence of contamination from the load port, the vessel could be faced with a claim.
Gard P&I Club released a guidance focusing on the obligations of the vessel owner and Master with respect to the form and content of bills of lading, as well as the risks arising from inaccurate description and mis-delivery because unavailable originals or multiple sets of bills.
As of 6 June 2017, ports across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are closed to ships flying Qatari flags. Some ports may also be closed to ships, irrespective of their flag, that are destined for or arriving from Qatari ports, which in practice, means a trade embargo.
The Gard P&I Club has issued an article explaining how crankshaft annealing can be a viable and attractive alternative resulting in substantial savings.
Gard announces new ship manager liability insurance policy
