The Future of the “Safe Port” Warranty: Smooth Sailing or Murkier Waters?
In an age when cyber security breaches regularly make headlines, and autonomous vessels are appearing on the not-so-distant horizon, it’s important to consider how age-old contracts like maritime charter parties will fare in the face of rapidly-changing technology and the security risks that come with it.
The “safe port” warranty is a tenet of charter party language, and an unsafe port or berth is often asserted in commercial negotiations as justification for damages resulting from delays or damage at port. While there is not a great deal of case law analyzing the warranty in the context of modern technological risks and threats, the cases and arbitration awards that we do have provide an interesting background against which to consider the potential for an expansion of the definition of the safe port warranty in an increasingly tech-based world.
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“The Future of the 'Safe Port' Warranty: Smooth Sailing or Murkier Waters?” by Emma C. Jones was published in the Spring 2018 edition of TransLaw, published by the Federal Bar Association Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section. Reprinted with permission.