Post by account_disabled on Feb 27, 2024 5:16:44 GMT
Legal disputes in the shipping industry have reached the highest level in at least seven years, as declining profits and trade disruption caused by the Ukraine war spark clashes between shipowners and their customers, according to an analysis by lawyers. Last year, shipping companies were involved in around 2,000 cases of out-of-court arbitration (shipowners' preferred route to resolve commercial disputes) in London and Singapore, according to data compiled by law firm HFW and shared with the Financial Times. The combined figure represents a 12 percent increase over 2021 and is the highest recorded in the two cities (the main destinations for these types of cases) since the law firm began compiling figures in 2016. It also exceeds the number of cases in 2020, when serious cases Congestion at ports after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic caused numerous disputes over shipping delays, lawyers said. Sanctions on trade in certain goods with Russia and increased danger to ships in the Black Sea region, as well as pressure to mitigate a drop in profits amid a widespread economic slowdown, were behind the tensions, the experts say. maritime transport lawyers.
There's probably more friction [than before],” said Mike Ritter, a shipping attorney at HFW. The Ukrainian war was having "a far-reaching impact" and generating "more emotional" disputes, in which shipowners sought to Jordan Mobile Number List oppose potentially dangerous requests to sail near Ukraine, he added. "I certainly don't see there being a decline" in court cases this year, he said. The rise in trade disputes is the latest sign of how quickly recent blows to global trade have reversed the fortunes of many shipping companies. Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last February, sanctions on trade in Russian goods have disrupted an industry that supplies up to 90 percent of the world's goods and depends on smooth trade relations between countries. A decline in global consumer spending has also hit the prospects of container shipping companies, which recently posted record profits during Covid-19 lockdowns amid a boom in online shopping and bottlenecks in the ports that raised the cost of shipping.
Kirsty MacHardy, a shipping lawyer at Stephenson Harwood, said the industry was making so much money in 2021 that companies were reluctant to disrupt business and face legal challenges from clients, such as disputes over a vessel's speed and performance. But now that profits were falling, they were more motivated to fight the claims for money. said Stephenson Harwood had also received inquiries from shipping groups seeking to reject applications to sail to Russia. But he added that clients were often unable to terminate existing contracts and only a fraction of these cases reached an arbitration hearing, as there was no blanket ban on trading with Russia. Shipping companies generally prefer to resolve disputes through arbitration hearings as they remain private. HFW said it had obtained its data from five major arbitration centers and organizations representing arbitrators, the professional judges appointed to resolve disputes. The law firm said its analysis gave a “big picture” of the trend in maritime arbitration cases, as organizations defined such cases differently.
There's probably more friction [than before],” said Mike Ritter, a shipping attorney at HFW. The Ukrainian war was having "a far-reaching impact" and generating "more emotional" disputes, in which shipowners sought to Jordan Mobile Number List oppose potentially dangerous requests to sail near Ukraine, he added. "I certainly don't see there being a decline" in court cases this year, he said. The rise in trade disputes is the latest sign of how quickly recent blows to global trade have reversed the fortunes of many shipping companies. Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last February, sanctions on trade in Russian goods have disrupted an industry that supplies up to 90 percent of the world's goods and depends on smooth trade relations between countries. A decline in global consumer spending has also hit the prospects of container shipping companies, which recently posted record profits during Covid-19 lockdowns amid a boom in online shopping and bottlenecks in the ports that raised the cost of shipping.
Kirsty MacHardy, a shipping lawyer at Stephenson Harwood, said the industry was making so much money in 2021 that companies were reluctant to disrupt business and face legal challenges from clients, such as disputes over a vessel's speed and performance. But now that profits were falling, they were more motivated to fight the claims for money. said Stephenson Harwood had also received inquiries from shipping groups seeking to reject applications to sail to Russia. But he added that clients were often unable to terminate existing contracts and only a fraction of these cases reached an arbitration hearing, as there was no blanket ban on trading with Russia. Shipping companies generally prefer to resolve disputes through arbitration hearings as they remain private. HFW said it had obtained its data from five major arbitration centers and organizations representing arbitrators, the professional judges appointed to resolve disputes. The law firm said its analysis gave a “big picture” of the trend in maritime arbitration cases, as organizations defined such cases differently.
