Insights

Among the many serious knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact on crew has been a topic of particular concern within the shipping industry. Many ports have imposed restrictions or prohibitions on crew changes, leading to delays whilst joining crew are quarantined, or a need to deviate ships from their intended port rotation in order to effect essential crew changes. Aside from the clear humanitarian issues posed by this crisis, parties also need to consider the contractual impacts that may arise. Podcast also available.

新冠病毒疫情和船员更换危机 在新冠病毒疫情引起的众多严峻连锁反应之中,对船员的影响已经引起了航运业的特别关注。许多港口 对船员更换实施了诸多限制性或禁止性举措,这些举措可能导致船期因上船船员接受隔离而发生迟延, 或船舶为了实 必要的船员更换不得不做出偏离港口停靠计划得绕航。显然,船员更换危机带来人道主 义问题,此外,当事方还需要考虑船员更换可能对合同履行产生的影响。

Arbitrators in deep water? Supreme Court hands down key judgment on impartiality of arbitrators The prospect of removing an arbitrator due to doubts over his or her impartiality will always present a challenge. The particular difficulties surrounding this issue have been under the spotlight since the long-running Halliburton v Chubb dispute reached the Supreme Court in November, 2019. On 27th November, 2020, the eagerly awaited decision of the Supreme Court was handed down.

As 2020 draws to an end, it has been a year characterised by interruptions to supply chains, humanitarian crises and increased layers of complexity in international trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the issues the industry has had to grapple with this year is the emergence of increasingly restrictive quarantine requirements. Although thrown into sharp relief in the context of crew changes, one of the related lower profile consequences has been an increase in the risk of hull fouling due to the resulting increase in delays in port or the use of ships as floating storage.

The Club has learned that a number of ships loaded with Australian coal are experiencing significant delays in receiving authorisation to discharge in Chinese ports. It has been suggested that the discharge of Australian cargoes is being restricted in China, but no official policy has been published, at the time of writing.