Charterparties: Law, Practice and Emerging Legal Problems

This year's event was dedicated to charterparties in all shapes and forms. This is an area of law, crucial to international trade, where freedom of contract dominates and interpretation is king. For this reason charters more productive of disputes than almost any other form of contract. This year’s event created lively debates amongst the participants which were drawn -- as always with the IISTL -- from academia, legal practice, insurance and the shipping sector generally.

From left to right: Jonathan Webb, (Partner, Holman Fenwick & Willan), The Hon Mr Justice Teare and  Simon Rainey QC (Quadrant Chambers)

The meeting, very generously sponsored by Informa Publishing Ltd, attracted very good numbers of delegates from the UK, Europe and beyond. Papers, presented by a combination of academics, practitioners and industry experts, included:

• George Arghyrakis (Partner,EG Arghyrakis & Co, London): Supply of Bukers and Charterparties
• Professor Yvonne Baatz (Southampton University):Paramount Clauses
• Professor Simon Baughen (IISTL, Swansea University): Laytime in Tanker Charterparties
• Professor Olivier Cachard (Nancy University, France):The Interpretation of Grain Voyage Charterparty in A Civil Law Context: The SYNACOMEX Example
• Nigel Cooper QC (Quadrant Chambers, London):Commercial Allocation of Risk under T/Cs with Specific Reference to Maritime Security/Safe Port in the Context of Political Risk
• Stephen Du and Jason Robinson (7 King’s Bench Walk): Damages for Repudiation of Voyage Charterparties
• Paul Herring (Partner, Ince & Co): Contracts of Affrightment
• Professor Gerard McMeel (Manchester University): Penalty Clauses in Charterparties
• Associate Professor Theodora Nikaki and Professor Barış Soyer (IISTL, Swansea University): NYPE 2015- A Balanced Document?
• Andrew Preston (Partner, Clyde & Co), Who Is Responsible for Loading, Stowage and Discharging? Who Bears the Risk (Jordan II, EEMS Solar, Sea Minor)
• Simon Rainey QC (Quadrant Chambers): Ship Owners' Remedies for Non-payment of Hire
• Professor Andrew Tettenborn (IISTL, Swansea University): Damages for Underlap
• Jonathan Webb (Partner, Holman Fenwick & Willan): Recent Developments on Off-hire Clauses
• John Weale (Fednav Ltd, Montreal, Canada): Liability for Cargo Claims and the Inter-Club Agreement 2011
• Professor Richard Williams (IISTL, Swansea University): How Much Flexibility Is There in A Voyage Charterparty? An Eclectic Cornucopia

From left ro right: Professor Olivier Cachard (University of Lorraine, France), Professor Marc Huybrechts (University of Leuven, Antwerp and Brussels Bars) and Professor Andrew Tettenborn (IISTL)

The Hon Mr Justice Teare, the Admiralty Judge and a welcome guest for the first time at an IISTL Colloquium, was actively involved in the discussions, and also chaired one of the sessions. Commenting on the event afterwards, Professor B. Soyer, the Director of the IISTL, said: “The IISTL Colloquia, first launched in 2005, have swiftly established themselves as the highlight of the academic discussion of maritime law in Europe. We are immensely proud that this event attracts so many esteemed speakers and delegates each year. This certainly creates a pressure on us to offer a very rewarding event for all those who take two days out of their busy schedule to be with us at Swansea, but judging by the reaction of the delegates I talked to after the event I am confident that this year’s event has achieved its objective. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated and members of the IISTL for their hard work and dedication.”   

From left to right:Stephen Du (7 King’s Bench Walk, London), Professor Francis Reynolds QC (Oxford University), Professor Simon Baughen (IISTL) and Professor Richard Williams (IISTL)

First published in 2016