Maritime liens and mortgages

THE new maritime commercial law in Egypt addresses the issue of maritime liens in Articles 29 to 40. Article 29 enumerates six categories of maritime lien, arranged according to priority on the vessel, excluding other privilege rights cited in the civil law or other laws. The categories, in descending order of priority, are:

• Juridical expenses involved in the sale of the ship and distribution of the proceeds of sale.
• Duties and taxes due to the state or to an individual, plus dock dues for loading and discharge, pilotage, towage, security, maintenance and other maritime services in the port.
• Debts resulting from monies owed to the master, the crew and others who are connected with the ship through labour contracts.
• Rewards in respect of salvage and general average.
• Compensation due in respect of collision or pollution, compensation for damage to port structures, docks or navigation equipment, compensation for physical injuries to passengers, master and crew, and compensation for loss or damage to cargo and luggage.
• Debts due in respect of contracts concluded by the master to register the ship in order to continue the voyage, irrespective of whether the master is the owner of the ship or not, and regardless of whether the debt is owed to the master, to the ship supplier, to the creditors, to the shiprepairer or to other contractors, and debts owed by the owner to the ship agent.

Under Egyptian commercial maritime law, each charter trip of the vesel constitutes a legal entity in itself, with specific rights and obligations. Article 35/1 states that, "The privileged debt arising from any trip precedes the privileged debts arising from a previous trip".
But there is an exception to this rule, involving debts arising from a maritime contract covering multiple voyages, as all debts arising from this contract are equal in terms of priority to the debts of the last voyage, whether they arise from previous voyages or from the last voyage itself. Rights arising under a single voyage will be handled largely in accordance with the six priority categories outlined at the beginning of this article. Debts arising from one incident are all considered to be accrued on the same date.

The maritime lien terminates with payment of the debt. The Egyptian maritime commercial law, meanwhile, also stipulates that the lien terminates when the vessel is sold, either compulsorily or from choice.

Arbitration in maritime transport contracts

UNDER Egyptian maritime commercial law, arbitration is defined as a legal discipline intended to settle disputes arising under contracts covering the maritime transportation of goods, operating alongside the country's legal system.

Article 246 of the maritime commercial law states that arbitration may be performed in accordance with the plaintiff's choice at one of the following places:

a. Within the legal jurisdiction of the port of loading or discharge.
b. At the residence of the defendant.
c. At the place where the contract was concluded, provided the defendant has in this place a headquarters, branch or agency.
d. At the place stated in the arbitration agreement .
e. Within the legal jurisdiction of the port at which the ship may be detained.

As can be seen, the maritime commercial law in Egypt gives the choice of arbitration venue to the plaintiff only, and furthermore offers to the plaintiff a variety of options in this regard.

Traditionally in shipping, the place of arbitration has been defined in line with the agreement of the parties, either directly by means of the arbitration agreement, indirectly by application to an institutional maritime arbitration centre to carry out the arbitration at its headquarters, or else by reference to maritime arbitration rules as a means of settling the vernue.
The Egyptian maritime legislator's decision to allow only the plaintiff a choice in deciding the arbitration venue was motivated by a desire to protect the interests of the weaker of the two parties to the transportation contract. The plaintiff may, in the event of a dispute, reach agreement with the shipper on any other provisions concerning the location of the arbitration venue.

Article 247 of the Eyptian maritime commercial code, meanwhile, provides that the parties are free to choose the applicable law. If the parties fail to agree, the arbitrator is empowered to make the decision.