Mark Johnson and James Brown have updated their March article in Drydock Magazine to address issues shipyards are facing because of COVID-19.
At the time of writing this update article, whilst steps are being taken to slowly lift certain restrictions on the normal operation of economies and societies in certain countries, virtually all parts of the world continue to operate under some form of ‘lockdown’, restricting the movement of people and forcing numerous businesses to shut down or find alternative working arrangements. Whilst we continue to assist numerous clients with queries arising from force majeure related queries, we are mindful that there are encouraging signs of success in slowing the spread of COVID-19, and that there are positive developments such as an increasing numbers of shipyards around the world, including in hard hit countries such as Italy and Spain, re-opening (albeit often with new operating regimes to allow continued social distancing). The COVID-19 pandemic has given (and continues to give) rise to numerous different (and rapidly changing) challenges for different shipyards, and significantly, also to their customers. This update article therefore does not extensively revisit our earlier comments relating to force majeure, but instead the focus is more to examine (in broad terms) a number of particular matters we are aware various shipyards are confronting now.
Originally published in DryDock Magazine. To read the full article, click on the PDF linked below:
Johnson-Brown-Force-Majeure-Ship-Repair-Yards.PDF
To read their March article, click here.