Maritime

Recent Articles

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  10.03.2023

  International

  En­ergy / Ship­ping – Ef­fect of Anti-as­sign­ment Clauses and Trans­fers to In­surers

  The recent decision of the Commercial Court in Dassault Aviation SA v Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd [2022] EWHC 3287 (Comm) concerned a contractual prohibition against assignment and whether this applied to an assignment of rights to an insurer under the assignor’s insurance policy. The decision raises questions on the effect of prohibitions against assignment generally, the concept of involuntary assignments (including assignments by operation of law), and the impact of anti-assignment clauses on a transfer of rights to an insurer.FactsDassault Aviation SA (“Dassault”) and...

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  19.01.2023

  Scotland

  The Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment Draft Long-Term Plan for Ves­sels and Ports - Con­sulta­tion

  The Scottish Government has published a draft Long-Term plan for vessels and ports on the Clyde & Hebrides (CHFS) and Northern Isles (NIFS) networks (2023 – 2045). This is the first element of its Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP) which is proposed to replace the Scottish Ferries Plan (which has set out the framework for Scotland’s ferry services since 2013). The draft Plan provides details about the Scottish Government’s objectives for the CHFS and NIFS networks. The draft Plan has been developed in line with the objectives of the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure...

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  15.11.2022

  England and Wales

  Oil, gas and com­mod­it­ies: Force ma­jeure

  In MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1406 the Court of Appeal overturned the Commercial Court’s judgment and found that a ‘reasonable endeavours’ obligation in a force majeure clause could require a party to overcome a state of affairs which would otherwise constitute a force majeure event by accepting alternative, or non-contractual, performance. Facts CMS have published an article on the Commercial Court’s judgment, appealed in this case, in its Annual Review of Developments in English Oil and Gas Law 2022 (available here) which sets out the facts of the underlying...

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  10.08.2022

  International

  En­ergy – pun­it­ive in­terest where there is “Sig­ni­fic­ant Con­nec­tion with Eng­land”

  Summary The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 implies a term in English law contracts for the supply of goods and/or services in the event of late payment by the purchaser. This ‘statutory interest’ is currently set at 8% above the Bank of England Base Rate and will apply where there is a “significant connection” between the contract and England. In Vitol SA v Genser Energy Ghana Ltd [2022] EWHC 1812 (Comm), the Commercial Court held that a propane sales contract had a “significant connection” with England, where the payments were made in...

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  08.07.2022

  England and Wales, Spain

  CJEU gives pre­ced­ence to Span­ish court judg­ment over Eng­lish Com­mer­cial Court judg­ment en­for­cing ar­bit­ral award

  On 20 June 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) delivered a “preliminary ruling”[1] that an English Commercial Court judgment[2] enforcing an arbitral award (the “English judgment”) could preclude the recognition of a Spanish court judgment between the same parties and in relation to the same subject matter (the “Spanish judgment”). The preliminary ruling was decided by reference to the Brussels Regulation 2001 (the “Regulation”). However, the CJEU recognised an exception, namely, that if the English arbitral judgment...

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  21.06.2022

  EU

  The Gen­er­al Court of the EU con­firms the re­cov­ery of aid to Tir­renia di Nav­igazione

  FR

  On 18 May 2022, the General Court of the EU confirmed the legality of the European Commission's decision of 2 March 2020 concerning the recovery of illegal and incompatible aid granted by Italy to the former Tirrenia di Navigazione SpA group for one of its subsidiaries, Adriatica, between 1992 and 1994. This judgment provides useful clarifications on the statute of limitations for State aid, the distinction between new and existing aid, and the compatibility of State aid in connection with an illegal cartel between undertakings. Presenting the case The Italian company Tirrenia di Navigazione SpA...

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