Contingency response

AMS modus operandi
Deadlocks caused by lack of information or trust
Deadlocks caused by deliberate attempts at extortion
Ship hijack (Crew kidnap)
Duress and crew intimidation
Claim investigations
Loss Adjusting on-site
Operational delays - Expediting ship turn around
Disposal or salvage sale of damaged cargo
Specialist courier services
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

AMS' modus operandi

AMS acts as a low profile intermediary and facilitator,  not as an independent trouble shooter. The clients (and their lawyers) always retain control over their negotiations.

AMS  works with [not as an alternative to] the clients' lawyers,  P&I Club correspondent or other local representative.

AMS is a flexible resource for clients and their legal teams in situations where one or more of the following applies:: 

• some form of deadlock has already developed, no new initiative seems to offer the prospect of progress, the ship (or cargo or other property) remains detained, financial losses continue to escalate and perhaps the condition of crew continues to deteriorate [see also article in Maritime Risk 23rd March 2005].

• because of political or other pressures on the ground, the P&I correspondent or other local representative can achieve  more in the face of partisan local interests if he does not have to act as the visible face of the client  or liability insurer on the ground.  

• although the situation requires the presence of a representative from  the client or his liability insurer it is either not cost-effective or not prudent for this to happen.

• the  attendance of client's lawyer  may provoke further suspicion just by virtue of the fact that he/she is a lawyer.

With its roots in the P&I industry, AMS has an instinctive understanding of  what the P&I Clubs and other liability insurers can and cannot do in any given situation. It  is therefore well placed to enter into creative dialogue with claimants on behalf of clients, to establish goodwill, emphasise the positives  and identify  the information and options that all parties can work with.

In recent months, AMS has worked in Iraq, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Libya.  [Top]
 

 Deadlocks caused by lack of information or trust

Underlying most apparently arbitrary or uncertain situations there are often real and genuine concerns. For example, the Somali cargo receiver who suffered genuine damage to his cargo but was unable to accept financial security from either the P&I Club or bank both because of his lack of knowledge about (and hence confidence in)  the P&I system and because the absence of a functioning legal and banking systems in Somalia meant that such security was not easily enforceable.

Uncovering and working with these concerns through face to face engagement with local parties on the ground is at the core of the AMS service. Knowledge and trust invariably creates opportunities to break deadlocks, to make things happen and to achieve win-win solutions for all parties. [Top]
 

 Deadlocks caused by deliberate attempts at extortion

Here the ship operator is usually confronted by organised coercion on the part of a politically and/or commercially powerful individual or group of individuals who use money and/or the threat of physical intimidation to control local officials, judges, surveyors and others. 

Here there are very practical limits to what the local P&I correspondent or other local representative can achieve on their own.  The presence of an intermediary like AMS, acting on behalf of the ship operator, will provide them with necessary cover for robust action taken on behalf of the clients' interest. The correspondent will be able to point the finger of responsibility - quite correctly - towards AMS 

AMS  will have more latitude to ask awkward questions, look for fault lines in the local power blocs (for example between local State or port authorities and powerful private commercial interests) and to exploit any leverage created by pressure brought to bear through Diplomatic or other outside channels.

At the same time, AMS also has experience and expertise in conducting long and careful negotiations and confidence building in fragile situations. Much - even the safety of the ship's crew - will sometimes depend on this. [Top]

Ship hijack (Crew Kidnap)

Nothing can prepare a ship owner in advance for the disorientation, helplessness and sense of isolation that hits upon receipt of news that his ship has been hijacked and his crew  kidnapped.

AMS can provide a step by step methodology for dealing with all stages of the incident itself and the actual negotiation - from first contact with hijackers through to the eventual release of the ship and crew. AMS can do this either in an advisory or a front line capacity. [Top]

Duress and Crew intimidation

AMS has encountered many occasions where local claimants have tried to leverage their bargaining position either by blocking the delivery of critical supplies of diesel to the ship and provisions for the crew and/or by actual intimidation of the crew - by physical assault or by the aggressive display or guns or other weapons.

Sometimes this is unavoidable but there are situations, especially where the claimant is a private individual or entity, that this heavy handed approach can conflict with wider commercial or political interests of local authorities - for example when a port authority or State government is actually trying to attract new business to the port or country. By being an outside witness to intimidation and by bringing it to the attention of port authorities and State Governors, AMS has, on more than one occasion, been able to persuade these parties to intervene to stop it and thus enable necessary negotiations to proceed in a more even handed way. [Top]

Claim investigations

Sometimes, ship owners or their insurers back at home, lack the necessary information to make necessary decisions about on the spot claim settlements or the provision of security. Sometimes, they just need a second opinion.

AMS regularly performs on board and shore side investigations in difficult-to-reach ports - including the collection of crew statements, documents, basic technical surveys, cargo sample taking and so on. [Top]


Loss adjusting on-site

On occasions, significant operational or financial gains can be made by negotiating the immediate settlement of cargo claims at time and point of discharge - especially in circumstances where providing financial security in the form of a bank or P&I Club guarantee is not a real or not an attractive option.

 AMS, with its roots in P&I claims handling, is well able to conduct these negotiations in ways that: 

• take full consideration of any the statutory and contractual defences that may be available in the jurisdiction and the carriage contract(s)

• investigates and takes into account residual va

• lues and any local opportunity to mitigate loss 

• makes settlement conditional upon claimant’s performance in other areas affecting the vessel’s quick despatch – for example the quick discharge of damaged cargo

• keeps the client fully advised of and in control of the negotiation.  [Top]

Operational delays - Expediting ship turn around

Often, when ships are delayed because of a local claim, the focus is more upon  a settlement of the claim rather than the commercial cost of the delay to ship owners.

AMS has a track record of linking on-site claim negotiations to claimants' obligation to act as necessary to expedite the quick despatch of the ship.

In one case, for example, AMS made settlement of a cargo claim conditional upon a local Somali receiver hiring his own stevedores to complete the discharge of the ship on a 24/7 basis during holy month of Ramadan when official port stevedores were only working a single low energy shift each day. The Somali receiver was prepared to  agree to this - even though it brought him into conflict with the local port stevedoring union. [Top]


Disposal or salvage sale of damaged cargo

AMS will always have a weather eye open for opportunities to realise the maximum residual value in any damaged cargo - either in a claim settlement negotiations or by marketing the cargo separately on behalf of ship owners to local or [through AMS' associates], international salvage buyers. [Top]


Specialist Courier Services

AMS can provide specialist door/door courier services in support  of on-site negotiations or ordinary ship operations. [Top]