Live webinar recording, presentation & review: You're taking the barnacle

Live Recording: UK Defence Club Live Webinar - 'You're Taking the Barnacle!'

Download the full presentation here

On 10th November, 2020, the UK Defence Club conducted its first webinar in place of the annual UK Defence Club Seminar. “You’re taking the Barnacle!” was moderated by Caroline Avgerinou (Syndicate Manager, Thomas Miller (Hellas) Ltd.) in light of hull fouling being one of the challenges faced by our Members. Panellists Mark Beare, Ansuman Ghosh and Dr. Daria Hinz walked us through some of the current issues arising from the practical, legal and technical perspectives. Each presentation conveyed useful, relevant and applicable information and updates in the field, and the interplay of legal and technical issues related to Hull Fouling in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic were covered. 

Hull fouling claims typically involve an interesting interplay between practical and legal aspects. With this in mind, Mark Beare gave a talk entitled “Legal issues - Past, Present and Future…” where he covered hull cleaning costs and underperformance related claims using the widely recognised “Kitsa” and “Coral Seas” cases as practical examples. Mark concluded with the BIMCO amended clauses whereby examples were given by comparing the 2013 and 2019 clauses. 

Ansuman Ghosh guided the audience through underwater practices and the practical aspects surrounding hull fouling and hull cleaning. Areas of the hull which can often be affected more so than others were identified, and various methods and tools used along with the challenges posed to Members and contractors alike were explored. 

Dr Daria Hinz focused on fouling origins and issues such as the significance of hull fouling in the industry, how to characterise fouling, ways of determining how old the fouling is and the challenges we face in determining the age of the fouling. 

The webinar closed with an opportunity for our Members to put forward their questions and many Members were given hands on assistance with real time disputes they are presently facing. 

The UK Defence Club’s first ever webinar was a success and proved to be of great insight. We very much look forward to welcoming our audience to future webinars.