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FREIGHT & TRADING WEEKLY
Import and Export Consolidations by Sea and Air
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FRIDAY 26 March 2010 NO. 1903
The Freight Community’s Weekly Newspaper for Import / Export decision makers – on subscription
Court ruling provides insurance guidance for piracy-related losses By Alan Peat If you’re ever an SA victim of piracy (like the frequent Somalian version), a piracy case just heard in England will interest you. Said Andrew Robinson, director of lawyers Deneys Reitz and president of the Maritime Law Association (MLA): “The recent decision in the Masefield v Amlin case
has provided some useful guidance to SA insurers and cargo interests whose goods are exposed to the perils of piracy. “Whilst the decision largely centred on issues of actual and constructive total loss of cargo under the English Marine Insurance Act 1906,” he added, “the decision remains relevant to South African importers and exporters.
It’s certainly very applicable to the SA scene, with Deneys Reitz having advised a local insurance underwriter about whether it would be lawful to secure a claim by a ship owner against a cargo owner for a contribution to general average expenses where a significant portion of the general average expenses included a ransom payment to have the ship, cargo and crew released
from pirates. This followed a ship with SA-destined cargo aboard being hijacked by pirates late last year off the east coast of Africa. After a long wait, the ship, cargo and crew were eventually released against the payment of a ransom. The issues that needed to be considered were not at all dissimilar to those faced by the cargo interests and
underwriters in the Masefield case. On August 19, 2008, on a voyage from Malaysia to Rotterdam, the “Bunga Melati Dua”, together with her crew and cargo, was seized by Somali pirates. It remained in the hands of the pirates until October, when a ransom was paid and the ship released to continue its voyage. To page 16
Cape Town’s latest ‘newbuild’ unveiled By Ray Smuts Precise charting resulted in last week’s keenly awaited ‘newbuild’ arrival, albeit onto solid ground rather than lapping waters, of the Lawhill Maritime Centre at
Fred Jacobs of Safmarine with some of the boarders at Lawhill Maritime Centre. Safmarine, who with Brian Ingpen pioneered the Maritime Studies Programme at Simon’s Town School, has continued to be the major sponsor of the programme since its inception in 1996.
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Simons Town High School. What is thought to be the only facility of its kind for secondary school students in southern Africa and possibly the continent, the centre provides maritimeTo page 16
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