Tag: Steamship Mutual Club

Ship operators should be aware that with the present global changing weather patterns, certain waterways, known as “Hydrovia” (or “Hidrovia”) in Argentina, have shown unusually low water levels.

The world’s reliance on shipping and its seafarers has been brought into sharp focus by COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a new film, produced by Marine Media Enterprises with the support of Columbia Ship Management, ISWAN and the Club looks at what this virus means for seafarers.

Stevedores strike at Portugal's Setúbal Port; Therefore, Steamship Mutual issued guidance on how port operations will proceed during the strikes and which operations will be impacted.

Steamship Mutual informed that it received information from TCI Africa that new measures have been taken by the Port of Cotonou to help protect against acts of Piracy for vessels both in the port of Cotonou and at anchorage in the waters of Benin.

The newly identified Coronavirus has made world headlines, as it is suspected to have caused the death of nine people and over 400 have been diagnosed with the illness. If the prevalence of the virus increases, Steamship notes that the shipping industry should first and foremost look after the health of crew members, but it can also face reporting and quarantine measures to guard against the spread of the disease, as well as issues in terms of charterparties.

Steamship Mutual attempts to examine how compliance to the Global Sulphur Cap is to be determined; what procedures will apply and what will be used to ascertain whether bunkers on board and the operation of the ship are compliant, in relation to vessels without scrubbers or other equivalent means of compliance by reference to the IMO Guidelines available.

As Fiona Li, Syndicate Manager (Claims), Eastern Syndicate, Steamship Mutual informs, the hacking of email accounts and the frequency and sophistication of intercepted and fraudulent emails has increased over recent years. This has caused payments to be made inadvertently to fraudulent bank accounts.

Charles Brown, Head of Claims at Steampship Mutual, presents a case where a cargo was delivered based on fraudulent Bills of Lading, highlighting the importance of the Bills of Lading during trade and presenting the risks of agreeing charter party clauses that oblige an owner to discharge and deliver cargo without presentation of the bill of lading, against a charterer’s letter of indemnity (LOI).

The English Court decided that 'On a true construction of the Bill of Lading, the Owner is not liable for any loss of or damage to any cargo carried on deck, including loss of or damage to any cargo carried on deck caused by the unseaworthiness of the Vessel and/or the Owner’s negligence', according to Bill Kirrane, Steamship's Mutual Syndicate Manager.

In this article, Rebecca Penn-Chambers, Syndicate Executive, Eastern Syndicate, provides an overview regarding common issues surrounding notification of off-specification bunker disputes. As Ms. Penn-Chambers says, bunker quality disputes are not a new phenomenon, but there has been an upward trend in the number of disputes.