TSC Triton no 1-2013 - The Swedish Club

THE SWEDISH CLUB TRITON 1-2013DNV and GL to mergeOn 20 December 2012, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) andGermanischer Lloyd (GL) announced that they have signed anagreement to merge. The new entity will be called DNV GLGroup. It will be one of the world´s leading classification societiesand risk experts. The global headquarters for all business segmentswill be located in Hövik, Oslo. The maritime business unitwill be in Hamburg, Germany. The merger will require approvalfrom different competition authorities around the world beforethe actual merger can take place.Maritime Labour ConventionThe International Labour Organization (ILO)Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) will come into forceon 20 August 2013 with the purpose of providing protection andfair working conditions for seafarers. A problem which has beenhighlighted by the effects of the financial crisis is abandonedseafarers and the right to repatriation in cases involving a shipowner’sinsolvency.As a consequence of the implications the Convention has onowners, the P&I Rules have been revised as of 20 February toreflect the requirements under the MLC. With the aim of satisfyingthe unspecified requirement under the MLC to providefinancial security, Rule 3 section 1 (g) has been introduced andwe are thus hopeful that the Certificate of Entry will satisfy theMLC financial security provisions. The IG Secretariat is in closecontact with the parties involved including the States that haveratified the MLC to assist and safeguard the interests of owners.Rule 3 section 4 has also been revised to confirm that the Payto be Paid Rule is not applied in relation to crew claims, althoughthat has long been the agreed position.More information on the MLC can be found in our P&I Circular2559/2013 dated 6 March 2013.The Swedish Club AGMand eventsThe Annual General Meetingwill be held in Gothenburg on Tuesday18 June 2013 and adjacent activities on17-19 June.Germany modernisesmaritime lawThe reform bill has been approved by Parliament andis supposed to come into force around April 2013.In general, the revised law establishes a contemporarybody of law by reducing the amount of provisions byhalf and installing a systemized structure. Detailedrules on charter parties and practiceorientatedprovisions on differentforms of freight contracts,as well as the introductionof electronic bills oflading, are just examplesof the amendments beingimplemented.The central modifications of the revised law affectrules on liability of the parties involved in the transportchain. The abolishment of the exclusion of liability fornautical errors, which was considered to be an anachronismwith regard to the modern engineered shippingindustry next to deleting the fire defence are some ofthe key aspects.In addition the new law introduces a legal concept of liabilityof the “performing carrier”. This rule aims to synchroniseliability between shipper and performing carrierwithout the latter being a contractual party.Finally, the revised law facilitates and accelerates the arrestof ships. Whereas arresting a vessel used to be a complexprocedure that has rarely been made use of the new regulationsin principle require a money claim against the vesselonly.For details contact Dr. Marco Remiorz at Dabelstein & Passehl inHamburg: M.Remiorz@da-pa.comPhoto: Stefan EliassonNew chairman of IUMI’sOcean Hull CommitteeLars Rhodin has been appointedchairman of IUMI’s Ocean HullCommittee. The International Unionof Marine Insurers is the main worldwidebody for marine insurers addressingissues relevant to the industry, such as exposure trends,legislation, statistics and loss prevention. Ocean hull in particularis the essential forum to discuss and exchange ideasof common interest to hull underwriters identifying challengesand opportunities in the marketplace and, not least,safety issues in shipping.25