Miami Shipping Law

There are some recent reports that keep those of us dependent on the Port of Miami's ("POM") success happy. The first report comes courtesy of the Maritime Executive, which confirms that POM has been working hard to bring back transshipment to Miami, in concert with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP"). The second report comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration  ("MARAD"), which today released a study on shipping patterns, which identifies POM as a "major U.S. port" targeted for modernization and with that, federal dollars to be allocated for infrastructure projects.    First Report   Prior to 9-11, transshipment made up over 22% of the cargo trade at Port Miami. However due to CBP’s increased inspections of transshipment goods in our post 9-11 world, those transshipment cargoes are going through Panama, Freeport, and Kingston. resulting in cargo delays and added expense...

I have been taking the time to re-acquaint myself with poetry that inspired me as a much younger adult. Upon re-acquainting myself with these poems, I thought readers to this blog might be interested in them as many of them have a salty flavor. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and will inspire you. The first that comes to mind is "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, which you will find in full below: Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. William ...

As reported late last week in various news sources including the Maritime Executive, a Spanish court found the crew of the M/T PRESTIGE and the Spanish Merchant Navy not guilty of criminal responsibility of the sinking of the oil tanker on November 13, 2002. It was Spain's worst ever environmental disaster. The PRESTIGE sank off Spain’s northwestern coast and polluted thousands of miles of coastline and beaches in Spain, France and Portugal - prompting Spain to close its fishing grounds for about six months. The tanker was transporting about 77,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil on board. Picture taken from www.crcco.com   Initially, the ship’s master Apostolos Mangouras requested a place of refuge for the tanker, which had a crack in its hull. But Spanish, French and Portuguese authorities denied the ship sanctuary. The Spanish authorities instructed the captain to take his ship further out to sea. After a storm damaged one of its fuel tan...

Carnival Corp. is shaking up its management team in an effort to rebuild its business after a deadly accident and several other mishaps drove passengers away. Effective December 1, 2013, Howard Frank will be stepping down from his current roles as vice chairman and chief operating officer at Carnival Corp. to take on the role of special advisor to the CEO and chairman, while continuing to represent the industry in his leadership role as chairman of CLIA.   Alan Buckelew, president and CEO of Princess Cruises, will take over as chief operations officer of Carnival Corp. & PLC on December 1st. This follows Carnival's decision in June to name a new CEO. Board member Arnold Donald took over as head of the company, replacing Micky Arison, who had been CEO since 1979 and is the son of one of the company's co-founders. Today, Carnival's 10 brands annually welcome over 10 million guests on more than 100 ships supported by over 90,000 employees generatin...

As I have been blogging for the last year, the Maritime Labor Convention ("MLC") came into force internationally on August 20, 2013. Within two weeks, the first vessels were detained for non-compliance.   On September 3rd during a port state inspection of the Liberia-flagged offshore supply vessel ATLANTIC CARRIER, the Danish Maritime Authority observed that the crew had employment contracts that were not MLC compliant. The vessel was detained for 24 hours while the issues were corrected and she was then permitted to leave port and continue her operations in the North Sea.   ATLANTIC CARRIER: picture provided courtesy of Maritime Executive magazine   Around the same time period, LIA M was detained in Canada. The crew complaints included unpaid wages; a collective bargaining agreement that failed to list the vessel's name, a date or a wage scale; crew with no money, no shampoo, toothpaste or other items; a crew member who had twice been refused acc...

In August, I spoke to the North American Maritime Ministries Association on the topic of Legal Issues Affecting Seafarers and Ship Operators in Whistleblower Scenarios. You can  read more about NAMMA here => NAMMA . Since this presentation, I have been asked to opine on other sorts of whistleblower scenarios. I recently noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission has just obtained a record $14 million whistleblower bounty for an in-house counsel whistleblower against his own company, which certainly may have some in-house counsel wondering if they should squeal on their clients.  The Corporate Counsel magazine on October 14th cites a growing number of in-house counsel and compliance officers filing whistleblower-related claims against their own companies. I find this a disturbing trend, as these cases  present a host of issues not present in an ordinary whistleblower claim, such as the plaintiff’s use of privileged communications, attorney work ...

Given my work on the subject, the Professional Mariner magazine had me guest blog an article on the Maritime Labor Convention ("MLC"). It was incidentally posted on August 20, 2013, the implementation date for the MLC. You can find the complete article here => Professional Mariner Magazine. I continue to be barraged by questions related to applicability of the MLC in given scenarios. The answer is simple, the MLC will apply to ships of all tonnages, whether publicly or privately owned, which are “ordinarily engaged in commercial activities.” The MLC does not provide a definition for what constitutes this quoted language and there has been some debate in yachting circles as to whether yachts are included. Some flag states have been publishing their narrow interpretation of this language as a way to encourage these vessel owners to change flags. However, this interpretation is not an answer to the “no more favorable treatment” clause which is a principle of the MLC. So i...