Miami Shipping Law

Brought to my attention by our friends at Shiptalk Ltd is a video of the Hapag-Lloyd containership COLOMBO EXPRESS turning hard-a-port into the MAERSK TANJONG. Both vessels were heading south through the Suez Canal, with the COLOMBO EXPRESS seemingly attempting to overtake the MAERSK TANJONG. Then about 2 1/2 minutes into the seemingly normal maneuver and with no warning at all, the overtaking vessel lurches to port and slammed its bow into the side of the unsuspecting Maersk vessel. Hapag-Lloyd noted in a statement there were no injuries or pollution as a result of the incident. A Maersk Line spokesperson said that three containers were lost over the side from their ship. You can watch the video here =>   Containership Collision.  While I do not speak fluent Arabic, p eople can be heard shouting off-camera as the two vessels gradually crash. Three shipping containers fell into the water as a result of the impact, and the COLOMBO EXPRESS was also left with a 65-foot dent, Reuters

As many of my readers may be aware, I am the Chair of the ReThink + ReUse Center, a non-for-profit educational and environmental Center in Miami educating children into rethinking reuseable materials for learning through play. The ReThink and ReUse Center’s Quality Play is Learning Program provides a series of educational and participatory workshops based on the philosophies of Reggio Emilia and Harvard's Project Zero Visible Thinking. The Children’s Trust is the major funder of this program, but the Center is required to continually fundraise for the balance its annual budget.   The Center is having a fun event you are invited to--the ReThink + Reuse Center’s “It’s How We Roll” bowling event on October 16, 2014 at Splitsville Luxury Lanes from 18:00 to 21:30 hours. My firm, Comcast and Waste Management are major sponsors for this event, but we could use a few more sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please let me know by reaching me at mov@chalos

In Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. v. Clarke , 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 15655 (Fla. 3d DCA Oct. 8, 2014), the Third District Court of Appeal, which encompasses Miami-Dade County, ruled that where a defendant cruise line reasonably communicated to the plaintiff that there was a forum selection clause in the ticket contract before the plaintiff boarded vessel, the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss for improper venue. The Court further found that although the forum selection clause stated that all disputes shall be litigated in United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, defendant had no obligation to remove state court case to federal court. In this case, the plaintiff, while she apparently filed her lawsuit timely, filed it in the wrong court. The plaintiff attempted to argue that it was up to the defendant to remove the lawsuit if it wanted to assert the forum selection clause. The court rejected this argument, finding that the court