| Archives: February 2007

Award N°1135 – (2nd degree) – Vessel grounded during a river transit – Intervention of a tug – Mere towing service but no assistance. Following a main engine breakdown in river Seine, a RoRo vessel went aground, she then managed to tie up alongside a close by jetty. The presence of a tug was required while waiting for the flood tide, then the vessel was successfully refloated using her bow thruster and with the tug in attendance. In the meantime, the main engine having been fixed, the vessel made her way towards her destination. The Tribunal ruled that, at no stage, neither the vessel nor her cargo were in a dangerous situation and therefore employment performed by the attending tug cannot be defined as « assistance » but were mere towing service and tide watch.

Award N°1136 – B/L used with a Gencon c-p – Legal action before a Tribunal lacking jurisdiction interrupts the time bar. Consignee a subsidiary of the charterer – Carrier not liable for damages to steel products cargo. The action brought before a US Tribunal lacking jurisdiction interrupts the time bar. When the consignee of the cargo is a subsidiary of the charterer which signed the c-p, the consignee is not allowed to claim as third party holder of the bill of lading which is not the only relevant contract of carriage, it must take into account c-p terms, especially discharging terms. When damages are ascertained at the premises of the clients of the consignee, it has to show that damages are attributable to the maritime carrier.