The Claims Review - Issue 12, 2004

Issues of Authority.

Welcome to this edition of the Claims Review. The claims examples in this edition are all loosely linked by the theme of authority and we hope that they will prove informative and help reduce the risk of claims against your business. In many cases this is simply the need to stay within the instructions given. However, there are occasions when the issue is whether any authority at all was given. Ship brokers should be aware of the potential liability for breach of warranty of authority and the circumstances described in the claims example “No Principals”. The claim “Wrong Terms” highlights the attempts of some shippers to impose their own terms and conditions and illustrates that agents dealing with bookings should be on their guard. Please circulate the Claims Review widely within your firm and should you require further copies these are available on the Club’s website or can be sent to you by email or fax.

Claims Review 12

31/08/2004

No principals

A ship broker received an approach from a Chinese broker regarding the possibility of fixing ships to carry steel cargoes on behalf of a well-known local steel mill. The ship brokers approached the representatives of a Greek...

01/02/2013

Wrong test used

In many trade contracts, where the specification of the product is important, buyers and sellers will often agree that the quality will be determined by an independent expert and that the expert's findings shall be "final...

31/08/2004

Wrong terms

A forwarder included "all shipments subject to the CMR Convention” in a written booking with a ship agent for line haulage. The agent failed to spot this note and appointed a haulier who contracted under his normal road...

31/08/2004

Wrong ship

The principal of a ship manager had taken delivery of a number of new buildings. Some of the ships were subject to a “sale and charter back” agreement. The principal had indicated he would consider an offer for any of the ships...

31/08/2004

Who is the agent's principal?

An English port agent was nominated by a charterer with whom they did significant amounts of business. The agent was instructed by the charterer to release a steel cargo without production of the original bill of lading. The...

01/03/2004

Wrong form

A surveying company recruited a senior staff member from a rival who brought a major client to his new firm. The surveyor used an existing reporting format. Shortly after the surveyor started his new job his employers received a...

31/08/2004

Forged authority

A Turkish liner agent was requested by the receiver of 12 containers of frozen meat shipped from Denmark to deliver them without original bills of lading. The carrier's bills of lading were consigned "to order" of the...

31/08/2004

Who pays the stevedores?

A port agent in the Middle East appointed stevedores on behalf of the shipowner. It was only when he sent the invoice to the shipowner that the agent discovered that the cargo had been booked on a “free out” basis (i.e. the...

31/08/2004

Settlement without authority

A P&I Club correspondent was requested to attend on board a ship to survey a cargo of 2,000 metrictonnes of bulk fertilizer, which had been contaminated by residues from a previous cargo. The correspondent, having...

31/08/2004

Repairs in the wrong name

Scandinavian ship managers were appointed as technical managers of a tanker owned by a K/S limited partnership. The management agreement was originally between the ship managers and the shipowning company but was subsequently...

31/08/2004

Damages bill

While berthing at a UK port, a Turkish owned ship struck the jetty. The agents passed the port’s repair bill of GBP37,850 to the owners. Nothing further was heard from the owners for a period of months. The port repeatedly...

31/08/2004

Not up river

A commercial manager in Germany was instructed by the owners of a ship under management not to fix cargo for this ship for voyages up the River Rhone. This followed previous bad experience of a sister ship having been delayed in...

31/08/2004

One booking or three?

A German agent for Chinese shipping company received an enquiry regarding the shipment of steel rails in three consignments from Hamburg to Huangpu. The agent’s principal quoted a price of US$65 per tonne and this was passed to...

Get a quote

Fill in the relevant proposal form to receive a quote.

Make a claim

Guidance on how to report a claim.

Talk to our experts

Contact us at ITIC.
+44 (0)20 7204 2928

You are currently offline. Some pages or content may fail to load.