Tag: Gard Club

Settlement proposals in Hong Kong must be fair and realistic taking into account the prevailing conditions. Gatd's P&I Club Insight looks at how best to achieve court approval for settlements involving mentally incapacitated crew.

The Gard P&I Club has issued Alert to inform some charterers have requested that tanker owners sign Letters of Comfort addressed to the charterers themselves or the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

The Gard P&I Club has issued an article regarding a significant settlement between Matson Navigation and the State of Hawaii following the discharge of molasses draws attention to pollution casualties resulting from sources other than persistent oil.Although this incident was a spill/leakage from a pipeline, molasses is also carried on board ships. This interesting case highlights a number of points to be kept in mind by ship owners and operators trading molasses to/from the US.If any of the cargo was spilled from a ship, it could have a similar environmental impact, therefore the following should be kept in mind by ship owners and operators:The significant settlement sum illustrates that the size of fines, costs and expenses for pollution events continue to rise in the US. In addition to civil liabilities, fines and response costs can be assessed by both federal and state authorities.Pollution events are not limited to those outlined in OPA 90 and can include application of CERCLA, The Clean Water act and pertinent state lawsNon-petroleum spills offer different clean-up challenges that can be more complicated and costly to resolve than an oil spill.Best practice is to immediately report a potential pollution event.Planning for response to spills of all ...

Gard P&I Club's two-part Insight article on container losses at sea The Gard P&I Club has issued a two-part Insight article on container losses at sea. The first part of the Insight article looks into the changing approach to the environmental impact of losing containers at sea and the significant costs involved. The second part below reviews some of the causes of container losses and what can be done to help prevent them.The causes of losing containers overboard are numerous and often complex, though very often basic operational errors are a factor. The consequences of container loss should justify time, cost and effort by ship owners and operators in reviewing and improving preventative measures.CausesHeavy weatherQuite apart from casualties, resulting in containers being lost overboard due to e.g. grounding, foundering or collision, heavy weather is often the most common factor resulting in stack collapse during otherwise routine voyages. In the SVENDBORG MAERSK waves of 10 metresreportedly caused rolling in excess of 40 degrees. The master had reportedly prepared for bad weather but did not foresee how much worse the actual weather and wave situation turned out to be. Gard's recent claims experience is that ship handling in heavy weather is also ...

Gard P&I Club's two-part Insight article on container losses at sea The Gard P&I Club has issued a two-part Insight article on container losses at sea. The first part of the Insight article looks into the changing approach to the environmental impact of losing containers at sea and the significant costs involved. The next article will review some of the causes of container losses and what can be done to help prevent them.In its lastsurvey, the World Shipping Council estimated that the international liner shipping industry carried approximately 120 million containers packed with cargo in 2013. It also estimates that onaverage 1,679 containers are lost each year. Theactual figure is argued by some to be much higher.Search and recoveryThe consequences of losing containers overboard have become far greater than simply losing the value of the cargo and the container shell.In February 2014 the SVENDBORG MAERSK wasreported to have lost 517 containers in the Bay of Biscay, 85 per cent were empty with the balance containing dry non-hazardous goods. With only 17 floating containers recovered, the French authorities ordered the ship owners to map the exact location of the containers which sank.In the RENA incident in 2011 some 700 km of ...

Hong Kong introduces higher liability limits

The Gard P&I Club informs about the changes to the Mexican Navigation and Maritime Commerce Law which took effect on April 4th, 2015.

Letter of Indemnity required for vessels at the Port of Durban

Argentine Customs continue to pay particular attention to ship’s declarations of lubrication (lube) oil and failing to declare “used lube oil” may be considered an infringement of the Argentine Customs Code. Gard P&I Club 's Alert of March 2014 stated that fines were being issued as a result of vessels’ lube oil in the sump tank not being correctly declared in the required customs forms. The Club has recently received information indicating that failing to declare quantities of “used lube oil” stored onboard could also be considered an infringement of the Argentine Customs Code and result in fines. According to information received from Pandi Liquidadores S.R.L., Buenos Aires, which included advice received from local Argentine legal experts on customs matters: 1) the legal basis for declaring the stores is to avoid import of goods without the payment of dues; and 2) Argentine law does not explicitly require declaration of used goods, including “used lube oil”. On this basis, and taking into account that “used lube oil” has no commercial value and has to be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner, their interpretation of Argentine law is that vessels are not obliged to declare “used lube oil”. Nevertheless, vessels calling at Argentine ...

Gard P&I Club updates on sampling procedures, cappuccino bunkers, bunker quantity The Gard P&I Club has posted on its website the following article regarding bunkering operations in Singapore. Singapore is one of the top bunkering ports in the world 42.4 million metric tonnes of bunkers arereportedto have been sold in 2014. Although the bunker industry is highly regulated, Gard P&I Club's Insight highlights some of the most common issues and concerns arising out of bunker sales in Singapore.The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (the MPA) is keen to ensure that quality bunker services are provided in the port. Every bunkering operation carried out by bunker tankers to ships must comply with the MPAs standard code of practice for bunkering (thebunker code), which helps avoid disputes.Sampling procedures in Singapore what should chief engineers look out for? Chief engineers should check and ensure that the bunker code sampling procedures are carried out.Key steps include:Inspect sampling equipment and ensure that it is cleanEnsure sampling starts simultaneously with the bunkering operationCheck a continuous drip sample is taken throughout the operationAfter bunkering, confirm the seals of the sampling container and the needle valve are not tampered withCheck sample labels include all relevant information before signingCheck ...