The issues of law brought out by attacks in the Red Sea, the Carbon Index Indicator and battery fires, as well as a shipbuilding sector in overdrive, formed the basis for a special briefing by CJC to industry interests in Sout Korea.
More than 120 attendees from South Korea’s shipping sector joined a one-day CJC Seminar covering The Latest Developments in Maritime Law. staged at The Plaza Hotel, Seoul.
The event addressed issues of interest to ship owners, managers and operators, charterers, insurers, trading companies and shipbuilders, ranging across environmental regulation, casualty handling, hostile acts on shipping and shipbuilding in a sellers’ market.
With presentations given by senior personnel from three CJC offices followed by Q&As, individual session takeaways were also summarised in Korean by moderator and CJC Associate Jeong -Sook Kim.
CJC Director Ian Short presented on the IMO’s CII (Carbon Intensity Indicator). After weighing up the factors driving industry engagement with the scheme against those holding it back, he outlined six unresolved legal and contractual issues as material to whether the IMO scheme can be said to “matter”.
Owners and Charterers were nonetheless advised to explore protection within Charter Party terms against issues relating to CII ratings.
CJC Director William Pyle gave an equally topical overview of the risks associated with shipping Li-ion batteries and electric vehicles, although his starting point was to contextualise and emphasise that fires at sea are “not a new problem”. He also cited Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency figures as evidence of the low incidence of EV fires (3.8 per 100,000 vehicles, against 68 per 100,000 for conventional cars).
Nevertheless, battery fires are much more difficult to extinguish, he said, with vigilance imperative on firefighting systems and training onboard. Regulations, guidelines and best practice on EV and battery transport should also be followed, although these are still evolving, with IMO due to consider new goal-based arrangements in December.
Difficult contractual questions remain for carrier liability under Hague Visby Rules covering Fire Exception and seaworthiness, and for charterer liability under charter party provisions, said Pyle.
Allen Marks, CJC Director, took the audience through the legal implications of Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and the impacts of diverting ships around the Cape of Good Hope. With more than 60 attacks reported on commercial shipping between October and March, transits round the Cape were up YoY by 135%.
The re-routing had inflated spot freight rates by 2-3 times and – according to Clarksons - charter rates by 30% from December. It also implied soaring liabilities under the EU emissions trading scheme. But market indices do not drill down into the contractual obligations of a 9000 NM detour, with Marks exploring the nuances of an Owner’s ‘reasonable judgement’ of danger ahead against different charter party terms (CONWARTIME, VOYWAR, BPVOY4 and SHELLTIME).
In a final session, Chris Kidd, Director, CJC, offered a comprehensive overview of the contracting issues for shipbuilding in the current ‘sellers’ market. This presentation has been explored in full HERE.
Rounded off with a presentation by Hun Song, Partner of Moon & Song, the formal sessions were followed by a buffet reception and networking event.
Further details of CJC seminar topics can be requested from Charlotte Ward