Case report
The Meaning of a Good Safe Port and Berth in a Modern Shipping World (author A.Kharchanka) (Ulrik Huber Institute for Private International Law, 2014) : [book review]
Adriana Vincenca Padovan
orcid.org/0000-0003-0013-1820
; Jadranski zavod HAZU, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The book entitled ‘’The Meaning of a Good Safe Port and Berth in a Modern Shipping World’’, written by Andrei Kharchanka, was published in 2014 by Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. The author analyses various legal aspects of the meaning of safe port and safe berth and the contractual liability of the charterer for the nomination of safe port and safe berth under English and American law of charterparties. The author discusses relevant English and American case law in comparative perspective, pointing at the recent tendency of departure of American case law from the practice of English courts towards the application of the standard of due diligence, required from the charterer as opposed to the traditionally accepted concept of safe port warranty and strict liability of the charterer. A particularly valuable contribution of the author to the study of this topic is his critical analysis of the decision of American court in the case of Frescati Shipping Co Ltd, 2011 AMC 1090 (The Athos I) which in the author’s opinion represents a progressive development of American common law relating to the standard of liability of the charterer for the nomination of a safe port. According to the interpretation of safe port / safe berth charterparty clauses applied by American court in the case of Athos I, the charterer is required to perform due diligence when nominating a safe port, whilst the duty of the master of the chartered ship is to safely navigate the ship. Furthermore, the author comprehensively analyses the attributes of safe port and safe berth as interpreted by the relevant case law (physical, political, administrative and environmental safety). Finally, the types and quantum of damages for nominating an unsafe port are analysed. This is an excellent monograph containing a thorough critical and comparative legal analysis of the meaning of safe berth and safe port in the context of modern shipping law, which is an important specific matter within the law of charterparties. As such, it will be a valuable source for scholars and practitioners, particularly for shipbrokers, agents, owners, managers and charterers, as well as for arbitrators and judges dealing with shipping law cases.
Keywords
book review; safe port; safe berth
Hrčak ID:
222331
URI
Publication date:
28.6.2019.
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