New laws presently being mooted provide for the seizure of original ship’s Certificates for vessels arrested in Australia.

If accepted, the new laws could be in place in the coming months.

The seizure and any difficulties in returning the Certificates could result in delays to vessels sailing once released from arrest. Owners, charterers and vessel operators trading to Australia and their insurers should start to give consideration to their charterparties or contracts of carriage to see whether any amendments are necessary to allocate responsibility for any delays or other losses.