As Skuld Club often receives queries from operators, requesting to switch bills of lading, it notes that although the practice is widespread, there is much confusion with regarding whether owners can comply with such request, how new bills should be issued, and whether P&I cover is at risk.
As Skuld Club informs, issues regarding the service of anti-technicality notices and the withdrawal of ships are almost exclusively approached from a shipowners’ perspective. However, these issues are also related to charterers both in terms of contractual rights and the protections afforded charterers when experiencing unreasonable attempts to withdraw.
Aiming to clarify the situation regarding Fuel Oil Non-Availability Reports (FONARs), Skuld Club says that it is a discretionary tool for a Member State to lessen the breach of MARPOL Annex VI. However, it explains that FONARs are not an exemption but rather a self-declaration by owners that a breach has or is about to take place.
As Skuld Club informs, whether operators purchase bunkers as an owner or charterer of a vessel, sometimes the standard terms and conditions of the relevant bunker supplier can be slanted in favour of the bunker supplier. Joanna Meadows, Vice President, Claims, Solicitor at Skuld Club, notes that operators many times have a little time for making a claim, in case the bunkers are not of the agreed quantity or quality.
Martin Øhre, Maritime Trainee at Skuld Club, touches upon the matter of enclosed space entry. Mr. Øhre notes that failure to comply with company procedures regarding entry into enclosed spaces can be fatal, while hazards such as oxygen depletion or carbon monoxide exposure are among the most common causes.
Despite continued industry awareness and guidance published on manual handling, several musculoskeletal injuries are reported every year, Skuld Club informs. In order to ensure a safe manual handling task, Skuld says that the TILE methodology should be adopted: Task, Individual, Load, Environment. Manual lifting should only be undertaken by personnel who have been trained to do so.
Depression, anxiety, and psychoses are mental illnesses that affect a lot of people. However, according to Skuld Club, their impacts could be more severe to seafarers due to the nature of their work. For this reason, a timely diagnosis is needed, as well as the appropriate treatment of the person during and after presenting signs of a mental illness.
Healthy food and physical exercise onboard should become a part of every seafarer’s life as maintaining good health at sea is challenging and most crew members spend more time onboard than at home. The cornerstone of a long career at sea is to ensure a healthy lifestyle and to reduce the risk for lifestyle diseases.
Many factors can contribute to unsafe berth, but a common focus after any berthing incident is whether the fenders were fit for purpose at the material time. Frederik Schmidt from Skuld Club, in cooperation with Solis Marine Consultants, shared valuable loss prevention material with respect to fender damage.
Training to be a ship’s Master is not easy and only a few can succeed it. Today, Masters and the responsibility of commanding a vessel meets a newly qualified officer in a shipping environment with heavy legislation, as well as criminalisation of seafarers and piracy, which regularly make headlines in industry media, Skuld Club notes.
