Cargo claims, carrier liability, charterparty disputes, ship arrest, marine insurance, time bars and jurisdiction: conducting the dispute from survey to recovery, in France and cross-border.
You are facing:
- cargo damaged, lost or delivered late
- a vessel detained, arrested or to be arrested in a French port
- a charterparty breached, demurrage or off-hire in dispute
- a marine insurer refusing or reducing cover
- a collision, a general average or damage in port
Maritime disputes have their own mechanics: short time bars, carrier liability framed by international conventions, package and kilogram limitations, jurisdiction and arbitration clauses drafted in London or Singapore, and insurers on both sides. The firm conducts these disputes for shipowners, charterers, shippers, freight forwarders, insurers and yacht owners before the French courts, coordinating with foreign correspondents where needed.
What happens in the first weeks, reservations, survey, protective arrest, choice of forum, often decides the outcome.
The risk: a claim lost through time bar, missing reservations or the wrong court
The first threat is time. Actions against a sea carrier are time-barred one year from delivery under the Hague-Visby Rules and Article L. 5422-18 of the French Transport Code, two years under the Hamburg Rules. Reservations must be given at delivery, or within three days for non-apparent damage, failing which the goods are presumed delivered in good condition. A late joint survey leaves the carrier free to dispute the cause of the damage.
The second threat is limitation: 666.67 SDR per package or 2 SDR per kilogram under Hague-Visby, shipowners’ limitation under the 1976 London Convention, contractual caps for forwarders. Finally, a jurisdiction or arbitration clause in the bill of lading or charterparty moves the dispute abroad: ignoring it leads to inadmissibility, submitting to it without analysis costs years.
Has a cargo loss, an arrest or a refusal of cover just occurred? Time runs from delivery: a first conversation secures the evidence and the forum.
The legal solution: preserve the evidence, characterise the regime, choose the ground
Every maritime dispute begins with characterisation: carriage under a bill of lading, voyage or time charter, freight forwarding, cargo or hull insurance. Applicable law, liability regime, limits, time bar and jurisdiction all follow from it.
Then comes evidence: reservations, damage report, amicable then court-ordered survey under Article 145 of the French Code of Civil Procedure, preservation of ship’s documents and navigation data. Then security: protective arrest of the vessel under the 1952 Brussels Convention, which compels the owner to provide a P&I Club letter of undertaking, and notice to insurers. Finally the action, before the French commercial court, an LMAA or CAMP arbitral tribunal, or the designated foreign court.
How the firm assists you
The firm acts from the moment of the casualty: reservations, formal notice, summons of all parties and their insurers to a court-ordered survey, application for arrest when the vessel is in a French port. It follows the survey, contests the cause of damage and the quantum, then negotiates with insurers or pleads on the merits.
It also handles operational disputes: demurrage and despatch, off-hire, speed and consumption warranties, safe port clauses, termination of charters, recourse between carrier and forwarder. For foreign proceedings it coordinates local correspondents and enforces the resulting decisions in France. General average, ship arrest, marine insurance and carrier liability each have a dedicated page.
Based in Paris, the firm acts in all French ports, from Le Havre to Marseille and from Nantes-Saint-Nazaire to Antibes, as well as before the Chambre arbitrale maritime de Paris, and works in English with shipowners, P&I clubs and foreign counsel.
Typical matters
The situations below are illustrative scenarios drawn from the firm’s practice and anonymised.
Reefer containers delivered damaged at Le Havre
An importer receives three containers of fruit at a non-compliant temperature. The firm has reservations issued in time, obtains a court-ordered survey and a judgment against the carrier, the package limitation being set aside for reckless conduct established by the temperature logs.
Vessel arrested at Marseille for a charter claim
A voyage charterer is not paid its demurrage by a foreign sub-charterer. The firm obtains an arrest order, then a P&I Club letter of undertaking allowing release and the pursuit of the London arbitration.
Insurer refusing cover for unseaworthiness
The hull insurer invokes unseaworthiness to refuse a machinery damage claim. The firm establishes the owner’s due diligence and obtains cover, including salvage costs.
Does your dispute resemble one of these cases? Give us the facts and we will indicate the applicable regime, the time limits and the strategy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which disputes does maritime litigation cover?
Cargo claims under bills of lading, charterparty disputes over demurrage, hire and performance, collision and salvage, general average, pollution, the sale and construction of vessels, marine insurance, ship arrest and enforcement, crew claims and port operations. What they have in common is a short time bar, a technical file and an international cast of parties, which is why the first days after a casualty count for more here than in ordinary commercial litigation.
Which French courts hear them?
Commercial courts for disputes between businesses, the enforcement judge for arrests and attachments, and specialised courts for certain matters, while the criminal and administrative aspects of a pollution incident or a port accident follow routes of their own. The port of call frequently decides which French court will be seised, and several fora may be open at the same time. Identifying the right one, and the right procedural vehicle, is the first strategic decision in the file.
How is a claim secured?
By a conservatory arrest of the vessel where the claim is maritime, which is the most effective security in this field because a detained ship costs money every day, and by attachment of bunkers, freight or receivables once the vessel has sailed. Security can be obtained in France even where the merits belong to a foreign court or to arbitration elsewhere, which is the practical reason a French port is so often where a dispute is actually resolved.
What are the time limits?
Short, and they vary: one year for cargo claims under the Hague-Visby Rules, two years for actions under a marine insurance policy governed by French law, two years for collision and salvage under the relevant conventions, and different periods for charterparty claims according to the governing law. Contractual time bars and notice requirements are added on top. The first task in any file is therefore to fix the deadline and, where necessary, to obtain a written extension.
Is arbitration preferable?
Frequently, because the tribunal can be chosen for its knowledge of the trade and the award circulates under the New York Convention. The Chambre arbitrale maritime de Paris offers a procedure adapted to maritime disputes at a cost proportionate to the sums usually at stake, while London and Singapore dominate the charter market. The clause is chosen when the contract is made, and it should be read against the likely location of the counterparty’s assets.
How are surveys and technical evidence handled?
By joint survey wherever possible, organised within days of the casualty, with every interested party and its underwriters invited so that the report cannot later be dismissed as one sided. Where agreement proves impossible, a court appointed expert is obtained. Samples, photographs, electronic data from the vessel and the containers, and the log are preserved immediately. Evidence not secured in the first week is usually lost, and no legal argument makes up for that.