| Archives: April 2011

Award 1182 – Sale contract of a fishing vessel – Situation of a sailor attached to the vessel by a contract of employment – Maritime Labor code – Dismissal – contractual obligation of guarantee. The provisional sales agreement and the Bill of Sale expressly provided that the sale of the vessel is concluded free of any debts, mortgages and / or the other expenses of any kind and the seller to guarantee the buyer of the absence of any debts or expenses attached to the vessel. In the case in point, a contract of maritime employment concluded by the seller before the sale of the vessel, and which by the effect of articles of the maritime labor code is automatically transferred to the buyer, constitutes an expense. It results from conditions of the Bill of Sale of the vessel that any expense linked to the vessel which was not explicitly accepted by the Buyer, must be borne by the Seller on the basis of his bond.

Award 1181 – Synacomex – Voyage Charter – Damage to cargo – Charterparty Bill of lading with no heading – Disponent owner – Identification of the Carrier. Further to damage by water ingress to the cargo, with a bill of lading without heading, all facts necessary for the appreciation and for the research in praxis by the Arbitrators of the identification of the Carrier, are taken into account. The company, disponent owner, had acquired the commercial management of the ship and had especially been a creditor of the freight settled by the CAF seller of the cargo, the voyage charterer. Furthermore, the buyer of the cargo, who had introduced the case, had knowledge of the terms of the Charter. The facts demonstrated that only the disponent owner under the Synacomex charter-party and time charterer of the ship had the quality of Carrier. As for the origin of the damage, cargo moisture and the meteorological circumstances of the voyage did not allow to establish an exemption from responsibility of the carrier.