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Navigating international trade and tariffs
Recent tariffs and other trade measures have transformed the international trade landscape, impacting almost every sector, region and business worldwide.
Global | Publication | March 2025
A fire on the container ship X-Press Pearl ultimately led to the sinking of the ship and her cargo. The ship was carrying containers that were subject to a variety of contractual arrangements (a connecting carrier agreement, a fixed slots contract and an agreement for transport services) on behalf of Maersk, Bengal Tiger Line and MSC. In Sea Consortium Pte Ltd (t/a X-Press Feeders) & Ors v Bengal Tiger Line Pte Ltd & Ors [2024] EWHC 3174 (Admlty), the Admiralty Court considered whether these parties constituted a “charterer” for the purposes of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims in order for a limitation of liability to apply.
The Admiralty Court considered the reasoning in MSC Napoli [2008] EWHC 3002 (Admlty), [2009] 1 Lloyd's Rep 246, and held that it will normally be sufficient for a party to be considered as an Article 1(2) 'charterer' if: (i) “its relevant contract obliges an owner or disponent owner to make part of the carrying capacity of a ship available to that party for the carriage of goods which that party will have contracted, or will be obliged to contract, to undertake as carrier”; or (ii) it is a party “to whom space on a ship is contracted for the performance by it, delegated to the ship, of its contractual obligations as carrier”.
Further reading on the case can be found here.
Publication
Recent tariffs and other trade measures have transformed the international trade landscape, impacting almost every sector, region and business worldwide.
Publication
In mid-March 2025, Cognia Law and Norton Rose Fulbright’s Legal Operations Consulting team co-hosted a second roundtable event that brought together senior leaders, including GCs, COO and head of legal operations, from across the legal industry to discuss how to drive meaningful change within the legal ecosystem.
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