Who knows?The charterers were successful on only six occasions

Who knows?

“THIRTY-FOUR London arbitrations were published in 2004. Of these, 32 related to disputes between shipowners and charterers. Of these 32 arbitrations, the charterers were successful on only six occasions. While statistics can be used to prove almost anything, one might conclude either that it is difficult for charterers to win arbitrations or that they are choosing to fight the wrong cases. It might be that shipowners are unlikely to take charterers all the way to arbitration unless they are sure they have a very strong case.”

The comments come from Asdem Ltd, an independent oil industry consultancy, set up in 1988, which specialises in the recovery of claims and the settlement of disputes arising from charter parties and international trading contracts. Asdem acts as an independent arbitrator, providing an alternative to formal arbitration or high court proceedings.

And it has some telling comments to make on London maritime arbitration. It says, “No-one knows how many London arbitrations were decided in 2004 because, unless both parties expressly agree to it, they are never published. The Society of Maritime Arbitrators in New York publishes awards as a matter of course unless, at any time before the issuance of the award, both parties request that the award is not published.

“Approximately one hundred awards are published each year by the SMA. So far, over 3,850 awards have been published. We would very much like to see the same procedure adopted by the London Maritime Arbitrators Association.”

So would almost everybody else. But the words ‘skin’ and ‘rhinoceros’ spring to mind when speaking of the LMAA.

Fee facts

IF you read nothing else about arbitration this year, read Manfred Arnold’s article in this issue. It tells you a lot about things you might not always think about.

For example, Manfred says, “There is a degree of curiosity about arbitrators’ fees, how they are calculated and whether their levels are justified. It is probably in part attributable to envy, because arbitrators do not seem to keep regular office hours, they travel extensively, show up at conferences and, according to some critics, can charge for the time when they walk their dog (provided, of course, that they think about a case).

“But those who wonder must also consider that there are no job guarantees for being an arbitrator. If you don’t work and put the time in, you don’t get paid. There is no automatic entitlement to paid vacations, medical insurance or a pension. I realise, of course, that these are not conditions limited to arbitrators alone, but apply to anyone who works for his own account or who freelances.”

We second that.

Bunkering embraces ADR

ALTERNATIVE dispute resolution (ADR) is slowly, slowly getting off the ground in shipping, having initially been lampooned, by those who felt themselves to have a vested interested in its failure, as no sort of solution for real men.

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) is the latest advocate of ADR, having recently unveiled new mediation and arbitration dispute resolution services for its members. Very little of the bunker industry’s dirty linen is washed in public. But Ian Adams, IBIA secretary-general, says, “Those disputes that do arise are usually quite small and revolve around quality, quantity or timing. It is in the interests of everybody in the industry that they are resolved as quickly and cheaply as possible. A key objective of both schemes is to restore relationships and to preserve goodwill that may be at risk from a dispute. The aim is to enable all sides to move forward with minimum conflict or disruption.”

The IBIA mediation and arbitration initiatives are distinct but complementary, aimed at bunker disagreements where the amount at issue is less than $100,000. Each scheme will keep costs to a minimum. The flat fee for each party using arbitration or mediation is set at $600.

Mediators and arbitrators will be appointed from an IBIA panel of bunker industry professionals. The parties will have a say in who is appointed.

It sounds much too sensible to succeed.

Shipping books

BILL Packard is a no-nonsense sort of chap, with a proper sense of fairness which he uses to good effect as a maritime arbitrator. More than twenty years ago, he started writing a series of shipping books which were published by Fairplay and which quickly became classics of their kind.

Now, Bill has set up his own publishing company, Shipping Books, to publish both Bill’s extant work and other, new publications, all focusing on commercial shipping subjects. The first of these, ‘Cargoes’, is now available, in a smart, hardback format, for less than half the cost of a merely average arbitrator’s hourly rate. Next on the list is ‘Sale & Purchase’, due out within a few months.

There are precious few publishers of shipping books at sensible prices. Here is one that deserves to succeed.

i...@shippingbooks.com