Asia/Pacific News
Bunker Claims Accounted for 57% of Singapore Arbitrations in 2016: SCMA
The Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA) says 57 percent of arbitrations last year involved bunker claims, TradeWinds reports.
SCMA notes that the number of arbitrations have been on a steady rise since 2009, with 46 arbitrations recorded in 2016, compared to just nine in 2009.
"We expect a robust 2017. There has been a significant uptick in the number of cases since the fourth quarter of last year. We have already registered 17 cases during the first quarter of this year," said Dennis Chan, Executive Director of SCMA.
"We are reaping the benefits of the work done before. The disputes being arbitrated today are a result of clauses that were inserted into contracts two, three, four years ago."
The SCMA, which is funded by the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Maritime Foundation, carries out dispute resolution on an informal basis.
"What SCMA really needs is a big arbitration hearing to get it noticed," said John Simpson, Managing Partner of Ince & Co in Singapore, noting that an increasing number of contracts include SCMA.
