Updates

The Singapore Maritime Port Authority now take an active role in loss of anchor investigations.

Ships can end their life cycle due to old age or their lives can be cut short violently by catastrophic events like groundings, collisions, cargo explosion and fire.  Scrapping or recycling of ships after reaching the end of their operational lives will normally be a matter for the owners to arrange. Gard is however, intimately involved in wreck removal operations required by authorities following a casualty. Here we review the considerations and choices Gard makes when confronted with disposal of entered vessels.

Gard is aware that, from time to time, Members have been offered contractual terms with counterparties that require the shipowner to provide a continuing warranty of seaworthiness for the entire duration of the voyage. Should this situation arise, the Club would urge Members to exercise caution before entering into contract terms since such a warranty could prejudice their P&I cover. 

In light of the recent London arbitration which found that the charterparty clause promoting the use of the Inter-Club New York Produce Exchange Agreement (ICA) only incorporated the liability provisions of the ICA and not the requirement to provide security as contained in clause 9 of the 2011 Agreement, the International Group has amended the recommended charterparty clause wording issued in 2016 in order to take account of this recent finding and to encompass the 2011 Agreement requirement for security to be provided. 

Updated 12 October 2018

While waiting for the new VGP to be finalised, operators must file a Notice of Intent with EPA prior to 18 December 2018 in order for vessels to continue to operate under their current VGP also after this date.

Shipowners waiting until 2022 to retrofit ballast water management systems may face difficulties, warns major classification society.