ITIC warns about re-emergence of people-smuggling scam
International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has warned ship agents about the re-emergence of a scam whereby they are being used by people-smugglers to cover the movement of illegal migrants.

The basic pattern of the scam is for owners or managers to ask an agent to attend a vessel's call, and to provide assistance with crew changes. Usually the owner or manager will be previously unknown to the agent. The approach is a sham, but the agent’s involvement will provide cover for the migrants’ arrival in the country. The migrants will then promptly disappear, and the agent will be left with unpaid hotel bills and may face fines from immigration authorities as well as being liable for detention and repatriation costs if the migrants are caught.

ITIC has reminded all agents worldwide to be vigilant when being approached to carry out crew changes by owners or crew managers who are unknown to them.

ITIC is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com


For more information:
Charlotte Kirk
ITIC
Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150
Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151
charlotte.kirk@thomasmiller.com

ITIC pays out for pool manager’s acceptance of unacceptable tanker

International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has highlighted the costly consequences of a shipping pool manager’s failure to accurately describe a tanker, leading to a substantial claim by charterers.

The pool manager misdescribed the tanker as being acceptable to a specific oil major, even though he had received an email from the head owner prior to fixing which stated that it had rejected the vessel. This email was overlooked by the pool manager when the tanker was fixed for a spot voyage to load ultra-low-sulphur diesel.

The fixture recap contained a clause stating, “To the best of owner’s knowledge at the time of fixing, vessel is not unacceptable to following oil majors …” The list referred to a number of companies, but did not include the specific oil major.
The pool manager, however, had mentioned during negotiations that the tanker should be acceptable to this specific oil major since it was not excluded.

The charterers could not sell the cargo and had no other option than to put it into
storage. They claimed $250,000 in damages, a claim which was settled by the pool
manager, who was duly reimbursed by ITIC.
ITIC is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com



For more information:
Charlotte Kirk
ITIC
Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150
Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151
charlotte.kirk@thomasmiller.com

ITIC warning on the price to be paid for misreading tariffs

International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) says the misreading of tariffs in shipping documentation is a common cause of costly claims.

ITIC cites the case of a South American port agent asked by the owners of a vessel to provide a quote for the costs of discharging a shipment of project cargo. The agent reviewed the port authority’s official tariffs, and advised the owners that the stevedoring costs would be $28.90 per metric tonne of cargo. The cargo weighed 296 metric tonnes, so the owners calculated the stevedoring costs at approximately $8,500 and quoted that in turn to the charterers of the vessel. The voyage was duly fixed on that basis.

After the cargo had been discharged, the stevedores invoiced the agent for the sum of $130,000. When these costs were questioned by the owners, the agent realised that the $28.90 rate it had quoted to the owners was the rate per cubic metre, not per metric tonne. It was apparent that the agent had simply misread the port tariff document. After discussion with the agent, the stevedores agreed to offer a discount on the costs, and the claim, which was covered by ITIC, was ultimately settled for $75,000.

ITIC points out that claims often arise from misread tariffs. In another recent case, ship agents in Australia quoted the incorrect port charges for a local port to their customer. The customer then fixed on that basis and suffered a loss of AU$86,000. The claim against the agent was reimbursed by ITIC.

ITIC is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com



For more information:
Charlotte Kirk
ITIC
Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150
Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151
charlotte.kirk@thomasmiller.com

Solid renewal for London P&I Club

Moving into the new P&I policy year, the London P&I Club has seen further growth in its owners’ tonnage, in addition to strong growth in its charterers’ book of business.

Ian Gooch, chief executive of the club’s management team says, “The recent renewal was particularly challenging for a number of reasons, including the depressed trading conditions in many sectors.

“A key part of our strategy involves work to strengthen the club’s long-term technical performance, and the renewal saw some especially intense dialogue and detailed analysis of loss records and risk exposures with members and brokers. It was also the case that, for various reasons, terms were not agreed with some members. But there were also good opportunities to attract additional entries from existing members, and we were pleased to welcome a number of new members to the club as well.

“The overall result is that the club achieved further controlled growth in its owners’ entry of around 1.5 per cent on the position twelve months ago. We were also pleased to see growth in the club’s charterers’ entry during the 2015/16 year and especially at the recent renewal, including new entries from a number of European and Far East-based charterers.”

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Naval architects count the cost of ship design errors

 

 

International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) says recent claims experience demonstrates that naval architects need to be aware of the need to protect against their exposure to liability for damages resulting from errors in design work.   ITIC cites by way of example a case involving the operator of a passenger and ro-ro ferry service which appointed a naval architect to design a landing craft ferry. The design was to be based on that of an existing vessel operated by the company. Prior to beginning the design work, the parties entered into a design agreement under which the naval architect’s liability was limited to approximately $750,000.   Shortly after the vessel was launched, the operator noticed various issues relating to its performance, including vibration, lack of manoeuvrability and stopping capability. The vehicle loading ramp was also at an excessive angle in certain conditions, making the loading of vehicles difficult and, in some cases, impossible. The operators took the view that urgent rectification work was required so that improvements could be made before the approaching summer season.   The vessel was drydocked and third-party experts were engaged to provide a report detailing the extent of the problems and their potential causes. Based on the findings of the report, the operators brought a claim for $3.5m against the naval architect, alleging that the performance issues were attributable to design errors. The operators subsequently acknowledged that the naval architect’s liability was limited to $750,000.   ITIC appointed an expert naval architect to inspect the vessel and comment on the extent to which the apparent performance issues could be attributed to design errors. The expert found that the naval architect was at fault, but that the claimant had incurred significantly more costly and extensive rectification work than was necessary. ITIC entered into negotiations with the operators in order to resolve the matter, and the claim was settled for slightly less than the limit of liability under the contract.   In another case reported by ITIC, a naval architect entered into a contract with a shipyard to design the structure and access arrangements for new lifeboats and their davits to be fitted to a specific vessel. The naval architect undertook the design analysis, using data received from the manufacturer of the lifeboats, and produced design drawings.   It was understood that the yard was to seek classification society approval of these designs before starting the build work under the terms of the yard’s contract with the shipowner. However, due to time restraints and pressure from the shipowner, the yard decided to start building prior to obtaining class approval.   The lifeboat support structure was manufactured and installed by the yard according to the naval architect’s design. The yard subsequently noticed that the davits were flexing under operation, even without the lifeboats. An internal investigation within the naval architect’s office determined that an error had occurred whereby information provided by the lifeboat manufacturer had not been converted correctly by the naval architect’s computer program, with the result that the calculations were out by a factor of 1000. This error was not identified during the naval architect’s quality assurance process and, as a result, the structural platform, as designed and built, was not fit for purpose.   The yard raised a formal complaint advising the naval architect that the work on the davit support structure had to be rectified because of the error. A few months later it claimed that rectification had cost £347,254. ITIC assessed the claim and was also able to raise arguments that the contract terms excluded some components of the claim and that the yard should not have started construction before the classification society had approved the designs. A settlement was eventually agreed at £255,000.

ITIC is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com

 

 

For more information:                             

Charlotte Kirk                                              

ITIC                                                               

Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150                          

Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151                         

charlotte.kirk@thomasmiller.com                       

 

London P&I Club issues recommendations on bauxite cargoes

London P&I Club issues recommendations on bauxite cargoes

The London P&I Club has issued a list of recommendations to owners contemplating the carriage of bauxite cargoes in the wake of renewed concerns about the dangers of cargo mis-declaration and potential liquefaction.

In the latest issue of the club’s StopLoss Bulletin, Dr Martin Jonas, of international marine consultant and surveyor Brookes Bell, notes that grades of bauxite containing a high proportion of fines capable of retaining significant moisture are potentially at risk of liquefaction, resulting in cargo shift which may cause the capsizing of the carrying ship. Such cargoes are classed as Group A under the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code and should only be loaded if their moisture content is less than their transportable moisture limit (TML). The IMSBC Code does not explicitly identify bauxite as a potential Group A cargo, with the result that shippers may wrongly declare Group A bauxite as Group C, and may not provide the required TML and moisture certification.

Emphasising that shipowners should be alert to potentially mis-declared bauxite cargoes, the club has made a number of recommendations to its members. These include a warning that any cargoes which possess flow properties when wet, or which contain a high proportion of fine particles, should be considered as Group A. Moreover, any wet or damp cargoes which appear on visual inspection to contain a significant proportion of fine particles should be tested for flow properties prior to loading, even if shippers have declared them as Group C.

The club recommends that masters, officers and crew should conduct frequent and regular can-testing in accordance with the method set out in the IMSBC Code, and says that, in the event of a failed can test or the presence of splatter marks on bulkheads and/or pools of free water, loading should be suspended until the cargo has been properly tested in a laboratory for flow characteristics.

Among other things, the club also recommends that Group A bauxite cargoes should only be loaded with prior authorisation from the applicable competent authority, and in compliance with the detailed IMSBC Code regulations for sampling, testing and declaration of such cargoes.

www.londonpandi.com