Miller Magazine Issue 109 / January 2019

77 “It is not only a classic example of the rule of transferring the risk under the CIF basis of delivery, saying that after the loading, even the flood may happen. This story became a bright example of how the market of international trade could not relate to the jungle, where everyone is on their own. There are long-established rules on the market, that obligations must be performed, and help in difficult situations must be provided.” The other working morning began with a rat- her unexpected question via a telephone call. What to do if the vessel with the cargo is sin- king? Naturally, it is vital to clarify whether the vessel is still sinking or is already sunk. This is a beginning of an unordinary story. After the vo- ice in the receiver replied that the vessel is only sinking yet, all of the colleagues on the confe- rence call sighted with relief. Following the client’s statement that he is an actual seller of the goods on a sinking vessel and their price has not been paid yet, an awkward si- lence filled our office and even the computer en- tered a standby mode. We instructed the client to send us the documents and assured that we will resolve the issue. By sending an email, the computer was brought to operational readiness, and the e-mail box was ready to receive another 30 letters or so. We had a very clear understanding that we need to take measures immediately, considering that at that moment, no one knew what exactly happened with the vessel, how fast it was sinking, and if we can still save the cargo. There was no way to com- municate with the shipowner, however, keeping the buyers in the dark was not an option. The Marine Traffic demonstrated the location of the vessel, which was not bad already. It was important to bear in mind that every single mi- nute mattered, as the vessel was getting deeper into water, and lawyers into numerous docu- ments, namely sales contract, insurance, charter party, bills of lading, insurance of vessel and cer- tificates on vessel, correspondence between the insurance company and buyer, etc. If you are drowning, only lawyers can save you! One hour later, first conclusions have sur- What to do if your cargo is on a sinking vessel? Ivan Kasynyuk Olga Kuchmiienko Partner at AVELLUM Law Firm Kyiv, Ukraine ikasynyuk@avellum.com Attorney-at-Law