Maritime Law and Insurance Claims Training Course

Participants can locate contractual obligations, indemnities and risk allocations relevant to a claim.

• Contract formation, incorporation and conflict between shipping documents
• Express warranties, conditions and intermediate terms under English contract law
• Map obligations among owners, charterers, agents, terminals and cargo interests
• Indemnity clauses examined for scope, triggers and procedural requirements
• Force majeure, frustration and deviation arguments in disrupted voyages
• Create a contract matrix linking duties, risks and remedies

Participants can assess the evidential and contractual effect of common carriage documents.

• Bill of lading functions: receipt, contract evidence and document of title
• Straight bills, order bills and sea waybills distinguished
• Claused bills, clean bills and apparent-order statements evaluated
• Review incorporation of charterparty terms into bills of lading
• Letters of indemnity assessed for commercial purpose and legal risk
• Document discrepancies traced through shipper, carrier and consignee records

Participants can analyse carrier liability and available defences in cargo claims.

• Hague-Visby Rules scope, package limitation and carrier obligations
• Seaworthiness due diligence assessed before and at voyage commencement
• Carrier defences tested against cargo damage and delay facts
• Shipper duties for dangerous goods, packing and cargo description
• Apply burden-of-proof sequences to a wet-damage cargo claim
• Calculate package limitation using declared value and container facts

Participants can assess claims arising from voyage, time and bareboat charterparty performance.

• Voyage, time and bareboat charterparty risk allocation compared
• Laytime, demurrage and despatch calculations built from statements of fact
• Readiness notices tested against berth, port and cargo conditions
• Off-hire clauses applied to breakdown, detention and delay events
• Safe-port warranties and employment orders analysed through casualty facts
• Prepare a charterparty claim chronology with notices and deadlines

Participants can interpret core marine insurance principles and policy wording for claim decisions.

• Insurable interest, utmost good faith and fair presentation requirements
• Policy schedules, clauses, endorsements and exclusions read systematically
• Proximate cause analysis distinguishes insured perils from excluded causes
• Warranties, conditions precedent and notification requirements tested carefully
• Construct a coverage map from policy wording and incident evidence
• Reserve rights without making unsupported coverage determinations

Participants can structure a hull and machinery claim from casualty notice to repair recovery.

• Hull and machinery cover responds to physical vessel damage
• Collision liability clauses compared with protection and indemnity exposure
• Casualty notices, survey appointments and repair tenders coordinated
• Particular average, deductible and betterment calculations examined
• Repair invoices tested against causation, reasonableness and policy limits
• Develop a hull claim action plan after grounding damage

Participants can identify P&I exposures and manage early reporting to clubs and correspondents.

• P&I mutual insurance structure, calls and club-rule operation
• Third-party liabilities: crew, cargo, collision and pollution exposures
• Club correspondence and local correspondent roles during incidents
• Security demands, letters of undertaking and arrest risks managed
• Crew injury evidence, medical records and repatriation costs assessed
• Prepare a P&I notification with facts, liabilities and immediate requests

Participants can preserve, organise and assess evidence supporting cargo claim decisions.

• Incident chronology constructed from terminal, vessel and consignee records
• Survey instructions define scope, samples, photographs and attendance
• Chain-of-custody controls protect damaged cargo and physical evidence
• Seal records, temperature logs and stowage plans tested
• Letters of protest preserve factual disagreement without admissions
• Create an evidence plan for refrigerated cargo deterioration

Participants can assess liability exposures arising from terminal operations and port incidents.

• Terminal terms and conditions allocate custody and liability
• Bailee duties examined for cargo held before loading
• Stevedore damage claims traced through operational handover records
• Berth damage, crane incidents and allision evidence evaluated
• Port authority powers, harbour bylaws and pilotage responsibilities identified
• Map contractor indemnities and insurance obligations after terminal damage

Participants can organise legal and insurance responses to collision, allision and salvage events.

• Collision and allision distinguished by vessel and fixed-object contact
• COLREGs evidence assessed through logs, AIS and bridge records
• Apportionment of fault considered under collision liability principles
• Salvage essentials: danger, voluntariness, success and reward
• Lloyd's Open Form and SCOPIC clauses explained
• Issue a casualty evidence hold after a collision notification

Participants can recognise general average events and coordinate security and contribution requirements.

• General average requires extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure for common safety
• York-Antwerp Rules 2016 applied to common maritime peril
• General average adjustment records: values, sacrifices and expenditure
• Average bonds, guarantees and insurer security obtained before release
• Cargo interests advised on contribution exposure and documentation
• Assess whether a firefighting expense qualifies for general average

Participants can identify limitation rights, arrest exposure and suitable claim security options.

• Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims fundamentals
• Limitation fund calculations consider tonnage, claim category and amendments
• Ship arrest grounds, procedural risks and commercial consequences reviewed
• Maritime liens distinguished from contractual and statutory claims
• Letters of undertaking compared with bank guarantees and cash security
• Formulate a security strategy for an unpaid collision claim

Participants can manage initial claims and liability issues arising from pollution and dangerous goods incidents.

• MARPOL obligations and evidence sources after pollution incidents
• Civil liability conventions and compulsory insurance principles outlined
• Dangerous goods declarations checked against IMDG Code requirements
• Emergency response costs separated from fines and penalties
• Regulatory reporting timelines coordinated with insurer notification duties
• Build a notification matrix for a bunker spill event

Participants can quantify maritime losses and develop recovery and settlement recommendations.

• Heads of loss separated into physical damage, delay and consequential loss
• Invoice validation tests causation, mitigation and documentary support
• Subrogation rights transferred after indemnity payment and recovery
• Contribution claims assessed between carriers, terminals and contractors
• Without-prejudice negotiations prepared using ranges, risks and authority limits
• Create a quantum schedule and recovery priority matrix

Participants can select dispute routes and produce correspondence that protects legal and insurance positions.

• Negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation routes compared
• Arbitration clauses reviewed for seat, rules, tribunal and notice
• London Maritime Arbitrators Association procedures introduced for maritime disputes
• Reservation-of-rights letters preserve coverage and liability positions
• Settlement agreements address releases, confidentiality and payment mechanics
• Draft a claim response using factual, contractual and coverage analysis

Participants can manage claim files, reporting lines and decision controls from incident to closure.

• Claims registers record reserves, deadlines, ownership and decision status
• Document retention schedules protect evidence and privileged communications
• Loss reserves distinguished from paid claims and recovery estimates
• Escalation criteria trigger legal, insurer and executive involvement
• Management reports present exposure, trends and required decisions
• Design a claims file checklist for monthly governance reviews

Participants can build, review and present a complete maritime claim file with a justified resolution strategy.

• Analyse a multi-party casualty involving cargo damage and port operations
• Assemble contract extracts, evidence records and incident chronology
• Apply liability, coverage, limitation and recovery analyses coherently
• Calculate claimed losses, deductibles, policy limits and contribution shares
• Prepare notifications, reservations, settlement options and escalation recommendations
• Present the complete claim file for peer and instructor review