The charterers were held liable for hull damage caused by the stevedores’ barge, in circumstances where Clause 8 of the NYPE 1993 charterparty placed responsibility for cargo operations upon the charterers, and clause 35 provided that charterers should pay for stevedore damage. However, the owners’ damages were reduced substantially because they failed to prove post-redelivery loss of use.

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Shortly after 3 containers of Sree’s calcium hypochlorite (in tablet form, in boxes) were loaded on board Maersk’s chartered Vessel at Jebel Ali for carriage, there was an explosion in 1 or 2 of the containers and a fire on board. Maersk claimed that there had been violent decomposition of the cargo in breach of the B/L terms and sought some USD 13m in damages comprising settlement payments to (i) head owners, (ii) salvors, (iii) to those interested in other cargoes affected, plus other miscellaneous losses. The Court agreed, ruling that ‘Safmarine’ B/L terms were incorporated providing English jurisdiction, obligations as to potentially dangerous cargoes and their packing and as to indemnification, all of which had been contested by Sree, who failed to take part.

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The Grande Island was time chartered on the NYPE form for a trip from Ghent to Nigeria. The C/P incorporated the BIMCO 2013 Piracy Clause,  paragraph (c), providing Owners with liberty to take preventative measures, such as re-routing, in an area exposed to Piracy risk. Whilst waiting off Warri, as ordered, events arose giving Owners grounds for piracy risk concerns and they took the Vessel to wait off Lagos instead.  An Arbitration Tribunal upheld Owners’ claim for hire during the period away from Warri, rejecting Charterers’ argument that as the parties had chosen to delete the more generous liberties in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the BIMCO clause, they had effectively made paragraph (c ) redundant. On appeal by Charterers, the Court upheld the Tribunal’s ruling, and the Vessel remained on-hire.

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Owners of a Vessel chartered on the Vegilvoy form to carry a cargo to a North African port, obtained an urgent Arbitration Award after waiting off such a port, as instructed, cargo sale arrangements having foundered. On the basis of Vessel operational issues (sludge tanks full, Class certificates imminent expiry, shortages of fresh water and provisions, and loss of forward fixtures) the Tribunal ruled (based on the Vegilvoy “Liberty Clause”) that Owners could instead discharge at such safe port (including in another country) as they chose, with cargo remaining in their possession pending delivery to persons entitled, Charterers being liable for all loss, damage and expense caused to Owners by reason of their failure to take delivery.

The Buyer terminated a Norwegian Saleform 2012 MOA under clause 14(a) because the Seller was not ready to deliver the vessel by the cancelling date. It was held that the Buyer could recover loss of bargain damages under clause 14(b), provided that the Seller’s lack of readiness was caused by proven negligence. The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court dismissed the Sellers’ appeal and confirmed that the reference to the Buyer’s “loss” in clause 14(b) is broad enough to include loss of bargain damages, even where the Seller’s failure to deliver does not amount to a repudiatory breach.

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The Claimant scrap metal trader claimed against the Defendant insurers under its FDD and Charterers’ Risk insurance, following a liability to the owners of a chartered ship consequent on a cargo fire in 2022. The Court upheld the Defendant insurers’ case that failure to disclose 5 previous cargo fires (not giving rise to claims) in the more recent years of the parties’ 14 year relationship, constituted a breach of its Insurance Act duty of fair presentation, entitling the Defendants to avoid the policy.

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