In the first judgment handed down by the admiralty court this year, the owners of the mv Happy Aras failed in their attempt to recover general average contributions from cargo interests following the grounding of the vessel. In rejecting the owners’ error-in-navigation defence, the court placed further pressure on shipowners to prove that they had
“It is not often that one gets the privilege of being part of an entire international convention process – from the first discussions in Athens to the toasting of it coming into force on 17 February 2026.
Much has recently be written about the Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships – conceived by
A general average claim will fail where the casualty is caused by an incompetent master, and the owner cannot prove due diligence to make the vessel seaworthy. That was the finding of the Admiralty Court in January 2026, with the result that a cargo contribution of about USD 1.27 million was not recoverable.
The case
Parties usually expect documents generated in a private arbitration to remain confidential. In South Africa, that expectation does not hold once the same dispute, or the same casualty, becomes the subject of related or parallel court proceedings. Where arbitration material is relevant to issues before a South African court, it is likely to be discoverable
When tendering a letter of undertaking (LOU) to an arresting party, a P&I Club cannot lawfully include terms that could cause the undertaking to expire according to the Australian Federal Court.
In the case of the “Yangze 22”, the court refused to release a vessel from arrest because the P&I Club’s LOU included
In November 2025 the UK Court of Appeal confirmed that a “pay-first” clause in a marine liability policy is valid when it accordingly prevents direct recovery by a third party from the insurer when the insured is unable to discharge its underlying liability.
Because the insured was insolvent, the court refused a direct claim by
Judicial intervention in upholding the service delivery of basic services in communities across the country has become prevalent in recent years. Our Constitution allows residents to approach a competent court and enforce their rights under the Constitution in circumstances where those rights have been infringed. Residents are seen to be adopting a more hands-on approach
Banks and other financial institutions (lenders) involved in the financing of international trade deals face challenges additional to those who are financing domestic trade operations. This is principally because
Introduction and background
Insurable interest continues to evolve under English and South African law and should be front of mind for parties involved in the logistics sector who want to manage their risk. The general approach taken by the courts in both countries is to ask whether the
A November 2024 UK Supreme Court decision in Fimbank Plc v KCH Shipping Co Ltd, [2024] UKSC 38, has provided clarity on the applicability of the 12-month