News & Knowledge

In this article published in Tug Technology and Business we set ourselves the premise that a tug and tow have been prevented from reaching the agreed destination, because of disruption caused by Covid-19. We consider the potential effects of this delay briefly in the context of The UK Standard Conditions for Towage, of ad hoc […]

On 11 March 2020 the World Health Organisation designated the Covid 19 virus as a pandemic. We have since received a number of enquiries specifically about where the parties to a TOWCON 2008 contract stand in respect of Clause 27 . This slightly odd clause combines a war risk clause with, effectively, a force majeure […]

On 5th July 2011, the laden tanker Brillante Virtuoso was off the coast of Yemen drifting in darkness in some of the most dangerous waters of the world. Shortly before midnight, it was boarded by armed men who put in motion a chain of events that would see the owner condemned by the High Court […]

There seems to be no sense that Nigeria piracy is slowing and in the past month we have seen a step change in tactics as the pirates have upped the ante by taking hostages from laden vessels in numbers not seen before [1]. At the same time, reports have come in that the three crew members […]

This article looks at the pitfalls of negotiating a settlement and how best to increase your chances of avoiding being ordered to pay your opponent’s costs. Sometimes resort to the courts or arbitration is unavoidable. Fortunately for clients’ pockets, and a solicitor’s blood pressure, this is quite a rare event. One factor that encourages parties […]

Salvors prefer rich pickings. Where, however, a ship has a low damaged value, and where there is no valuable cargo on board that can be saved, there is little to incentivise a salvor to undertake a rescue operation. In the past, if the vessel grounded on or sank off the more remote shorelines of the […]