Arbitrations: Making Waves Filings Against Cruise Lines in the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Maritime and Cruiseship Arbitrations: Making Waves

The Impact -- Filings Against Cruise Lines in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit

254 277 250 250 254 187 126 84 80 61 52 45 35 139 108 105 75 101 110 99 82 65 39 30 33 13 44 24 38 10 33 23 27 28 25 34 19 15 17 50 100 150 200 250 300 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Number of Cases

Filings Against Cruise Lines in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit

Royal Caribbean/Celebrity Carnival Norweigian/NCL

Lindo v. NCL

• Aug. 29, 2011

Thomas v. Carnival

July 1, 2009

Bautista v. Star Cruises

• Jan. 18, 2005

Benefi fits ts to to Fla laggi gging g a Ve Vessel i l in th the e Baha hamas mas

The Bahamas Maritime Authority “BMA”

• Created in 1995
• Semi-autonomous government – owned corporation
• Dedicated to maintaining the highest standards for Bahaman flagged

vessels in its fleet

• Function:
• Register vessels – assistance
• Enforce safety – inspections
• Monitor and improve standards (on board and the environment)
• Offices in Nassau, Bahamas, New York, London, Hong Kong and

Greece (to assist Bahamian flagged shipowners and their seafarers)

• Education – providing lists of training centers
• Works with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which is

the UN’s agency dedicated to technical and operational matters.

Benefi fits ts to to Fla laggi gging g a Ve Vessel i l in th the e Baha hamas mas

The Bahamas Maritime Authority “BMA” It has important responsibilities include:

• 5(f) “to assist in the development of the maritime industry of

The Bahamas;” and

• 5(g) “to expand and create maritime employment
• pportunities for Bahamians.”

Benefi fits ts to to Fla laggi gging g a Ve Vessel i l in th the e Baha hamas mas

The Bahamas Shipowners Association “BSA”

• Created in 1997
• Purpose:
• Promote the interest of the shipowners of Bahamian

registered vessels

• Facilitate dialogue between shipowners and the BMA.

Success?

Have the BMA and BSA been Successful?

The Bahamas has the seventh largest ship registry in the world.

The Cruise line's Share of World Wide Passengers

Royal Caribbean 23% Norwegian 11% MSC 5% Disney 3% Carnival 48% All

• thers

10%

Percentage

• f

Passengers per Cruise Line for 2015

Royal Caribbean 23% Norwegian 11% MSC 7% Disney 2% Carnival 47% All

• thers

10%

Percentage

• f

Passengers per Cruise Line for 2018

Arbitration Clause 1

Arbitration Clause 2

Arbitration Clauses 3 & 4 & 5

Arbitration Clause 5

Missing?

Currently, for Bahamian Flagged Vessels there is:

• No mandatory requirement that seat of arbitration be in the Bahamas
• No mandatory requirement that disputes be venued in the Bahamas
• No mandatory application of Bahamian substantive law.

What are your thoughts?

One of the Fundamental Principals of Arbitration is the Freedom to Contract the Means of Dispute Resolution