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18/03/2013

Stability study

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...

27/11/2012

Drawing a blank

A shipbroker in Scandinavia was instructed by his principal to confirm re-delivery of a ship to its owners. He sent the notice of re-delivery to the owner’s broker in the Far East by e-mail, and requested confirmation of receipt....

28/09/2012

Berth booking blunder

Ship owners appointed a port agent for the call of their vessel for bunkers. The agent failed to complete the required customs formalities in time to book the berth. Unfortunately, this mistake went unnoticed until the vessel was...

28/09/2012

A tidal change

In early 2011 a ship agent at a tidal port in Japan was asked to provide a tide table to enable the owner of a ship to calculate the permissible drafts for the dates his ship was due to berth at the port. The ship agent duly...

28/09/2012

Forbidden scrap

A liner agent accepted, on behalf of a shipping line, a cargo of scrap plastic from the southern hemisphere to the Far East. Unfortunately the agents had previously received instructions from their principal not to accept any...

28/09/2012

Don’t rock the boat

A yacht broker incorrectly marketed a yacht as having zero speed stabilisers, which it in fact did not have. The owners of the yacht brought a claim against the broker alleging that this misdescription in the run up to the summer...

28/09/2012

The penalties of stowaways

When a vessel was attempting to leave the berth, the presence of a stowaway onboard was discovered. The ship agent immediately contacted the Immigration Authorities to ask them to remove the stowaway, but failed to notify the...

28/09/2012

Persistence pays

Shipbrokers notified ITIC of their concern about outstanding commission owed to them by time charterers, who were widely thought to be in financial difficulties. The charterparty provided that the time charterers were obliged to...

28/09/2012

Who pays for heating?

When a tanker broker arranged a voyage charter, the recap e-mail stated that the lump sum freight was inclusive of maintaining loaded temperature. The cargo description also stated “vessel to maintain loaded temperature”. There...