Claims Review

A naval architect was approached by a customer to design a catamaran workboat. The customer provided the naval architect with a plan of their existing workboat and requested the final design and specification was to be based on that boat.

Shipbrokers had arranged a voyage charter. They noted that the ship appeared to be delayed and would not make the original laydays. After discussing the options the broker understood that both the owners and charterers agreed to cancel the fixture.

Shipbrokers involved in negotiating period business received a revised description from the owners. The difference was that the original description described the ship as doing “abt 14 knots on abt 32 mt IFO” while the revision added “+ AE 2.6 mt”.

Ship agents were contacted by owners whose ship was being fixed to discharge at a West African port. Owners advised that they were intending to discharge 10 large tanks, each weighing 69 metric tons.

A shipper booked a shipment of 17 containers from Germany to China via Rotterdam, destination Jiangyin Terminal Fuzhou. The correct location code with the shipping line for this destination was CN JGY indicating the cargo was for Jiangyin International Container terminal, Fuzhou Fujian.

ITIC has often assisted ship agents who have received demands from trustees in bankruptcy seeking to recover disbursements paid to the agent in the period shortly prior to their principal entering bankruptcy. The agent will frequently have settled with suppliers and face a loss if they have to return money. While ITIC does not cover the amounts at stake, agreed legal costs can be reimbursed under the debt collection cover.

A surveyor was appointed by an insurance company to assess damage suffered by a yacht following a heavy storm.

A ship agent in Central America made two mistakes in relation to cargo on a ship coming into port which led to two customs fines.

A container of frozen beef was carried on a liner service between Australia and China. Seven days after the ship departed Australia, the shipper realised that they had failed to obtain the necessary health certificate from the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources prior to exporting the container.

A shipbroker was arranging a fixture involving the loading of a variety of parcels. Various permutations of parcels and holds were discussed during the negotiations.

A ship agent in Spain was owed US$ 12,000 in outstanding disbursements by the owner of a tanker which had called at a Spanish port under their agency.

An ITIC member, who is a surveyor, was appointed in 2013 by a buyer to sample a cargo of 3,000 MT of Ukrainian sunflower seed cake at a discharge port in Spain under GAFTA Rules. There was an underlying dispute between the buyer and seller as to the quality of the cargo. The surveyor, insured by ITIC, sub-contracted the job to a surveyor in Belgium, who in turn sub-sub-contracted the sampling to their office in Spain. 

A naval architect designed a series of motor yachts for a yard. As part of the design contract, they were required to provide a drawing showing the down flooding points of the yacht. This drawing was to be provided on an “as built” basis. However, the drawing was never provided.