Standard Bulletin: Offshore Special Edition, November 2014

In this edition we cover: recent legal developments in Malaysia, FLNG, pollution in Brazil, knock-for-knock developments in Norway, the effect of Deepwater Horizon on US law, a new insurance bill under English law, contracting issues in the heavylift market, using LNG as fuel, common incidents in dynamic positioning and staff news.

In this edition we cover:

Malaysia – recent legal developments Recognising the need to update its maritime laws, on 1 March 2014 Malaysia enacted certain significant maritime conventions simultaneously. Combined with efforts to modernise its legal infrastructure, Malaysia is looking to establish itself as a regional forum for dispute resolutions. This article looks in more detail at these recent legal developments.	Offshore Forum: FLNG In May 2014, The Standard Club hosted an Offshore Forum at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore which focussed on FLNG technology. The event attracted many companies from the offshore industry, including oil companies, offshore marine contractors, market underwriters and service providers. This article looks at a couple of the issues discussed.
Brazil – pollution Brazil is known for its complex regulatory framework. As such, there is great uncertainty and unpredictability surrounding its pollution liability system. This article looks at the role of the authorities in the event of a pollution incident and the increasing level of fines applied following a spill.	Knock-for-knock – recent developments in Norway In a recent decision, the Norwegian Court of Appeal has refused to uphold contractual provisions regulating liability where the party seeking to rely on such provisions has been ‘grossly negligent’. This article looks at the case concerned in more detail and the potential implications.
Deepwater Horizon – US legal developments The meaning of gross negligence is an issue that arises often when contracting in the US offshore industry. This article explores a recent decision from the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans arising out of the Deepwater Horizon casualty which, subject to appeal, has the potential to provide certainty to the answer to this question.	A new insurance bill is in the pipeline A new insurance bill is due to be introduced into Parliament in July 2015 which, if enacted, will significantly reform insurance contract law in England and Wales. The purpose of this article is to examine the key changes that will be brought about by this piece of legislation.
Contracting issues in the heavylift market As project cargoes, particularly in the offshore oil and gas sector, become physically larger and of higher value, heavylift operators are facing more onerous contractual liability regimes. In this article, we highlight current trends in heavylift contracting and the implications that these have for heavylift members and their clients.	LNG as fuel A growing number of offshore operators have asked the club for our opinion on LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) powered ships. This article outlines some of our considerations.
Dynamic positioning – common incidents and mitigation Dynamic positioning systems are becoming more advanced and more common, as are the failures that arise when they are not managed correctly. This article looks at some recent incidents involving DP ships and how they could have been mitigated.	Staff News An update on our team.