UK Supreme Court rules maritime arbitrators must disclose bias

MARITIME arbitrators are under a legal obligation to disclose circumstances indicate justifiable doubts as to their impartiality, the UK Supreme has ruled.

The London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LM) in the case of Halliburton v Chubb. LM was an intervener in the case, in which Halliburton sought payment under an insurance policy it had entered into with Chubb.



Chubb was held partially liable by a US court for damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in 2010.



The rig, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling.



Chubb declined to pay, arguing that the settlement agreed by Halliburton, which provided cementing and well-monitoring services to BP in the Gulf of Mexico, was unreasonable.



The London law firm, HFW (Holman Fenwick Willan) was represented by George Eddings, Jonathan Webb, Craig Neame. and Cecilie Rezutka. .


SeaNews Turkey