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Under English law, it is entirely up to the contract parties to agree on “force majeure” events that are beyond the builder’s control. Under an old English law principle known as the “prevention principle”, no party to a contract should be allowed to benefit from its own failure to perform. In the context of shipbuilding contracts, this principle should give protection to a shipyard in the case of delays in the delivery of a vessel that are caused by the buyer’s defaults. It is the builder’s fundamental duty to deliver the vessel to the buyer on the delivery date set out in the shipbuilding contract. If the builder demands to be released from that duty, it will have to follow certain requirements imposed by English law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks an appropriate response to the issues that the parties to international shipbuilding contracts struggle with and they are lawsuits arising from disputes related to the manner of risk distribution in these contracts as well as the variety of associated cases and their referral to arbitration tribunals or international courts. Identifying existing or perceived risks in international shipbuilding contracts and the quality of management and distribution of these risks among the contracting parties have a significant impact on the life and survival of the contract and on achieving the desired result and the ultimate goal of the contract. A wide range of financial, legal, political, technical and economic risks are involved in the contract, the distribution of which must also be detailed. besides, national, regional and international legal rules and requirements in the field of maritime standards restrict and regulate the freedom of will of the parties. The main risks include design, technical or qualitative risk and financial risk. The effects and guarantees of each of these risks vary and the way out of them should be foreseen in the clauses of the contract or other similar documents in the light of the principle of sovereignty of the will and it should also be specified which party bears the burden of these risks. Risk, as the case may be, is borne by the party to the contract who has the greater capacity, power and from technical, legal or financial point of view has the capacity to compensate and procure it. Depending on the case, the design risk is borne by the design provider (owner, builder or design consultant), technical or quality risk is borne by the builder until the end of the warranty period, and financial risk is borne by the financing applicant

O hrvatskim pravilima o mjerodavnom pravu i sukobu zakona kod ugovora o gradnji broda može se govoriti na tri razine: na razini mjerodavnog prava kojim ugovorne starne (naručitelj i brodograditelj) reguliraju međusobne odnose; na razini primjene stvarnih prava na brod u gradnji (i njegove pripatke); te na razini postupovnog prava koje se ima primijeniti na brod u gradnji u hrvatskom brodogradilištu. Temeljem odredbi Pomorskog zakonika i Zakona o rješavanju sukoba zakona s propisima drugih zemalja u određenim odnosima, određivanje mjerodavnog prava za ugovor o gradnji broda prepušteno je ugovornim stranama. Međutim, u slučaju da naručitelj i brodograditelj to propuste učiniti, odredbe Pomorskog zakonika upućuju na primjenu hrvatskog prava. Takav je pristup u današnjem trenutku razvitka međunarodnog privatnog prava zastario i u praksi će biti sve manje održiv. Iako su odredbe Pomorskog zakonika o vlasništvu i drugim stvarnim pravima na brodu u gradnji odraz Međunarodne konvencije o upisu stvarnih prava na brodove u gradnji (Bruxelles, 1968.) te pretežno kogentne naravi, ugovorne strane ipak određujući ugovorom primjenu inozemnog prava, takve kogentne propise mijenjaju te time otvaraju sukob između zakona države čije su pravo ugovorom izabrale i zakona države u kojoj se brod gradi, odnosno Republike Hrvatske. Postupovne odredbe Pomorskog zakonika koje reguliraju privremene mjere u odnosu na brod u gradnji, ne reguliraju one odnose koje u sebi sadrže inozemni element, te se tako stvara privid da niti jedan drugi forum, osim ''forum rei sitae'', neće ili ne može biti nadležan za donošenje sudskih odluka i mjera usmjerenih na raspolaganje brodom u gradnji. Moderna međunarodna praksa međutim nudi nova rješenja i na ovoj razini sukoba zakona.

Many shipyards today contract vessels based on the traditional Lump Sum Fixed Price (LSFP) contract. Even though the construction of vessels from contract to delivery lasts from a year to longer, there are limited mechanisms available to mitigate for risk during the project evolution, especially in the case of prototype vessels, which are being built by the shipyard for the first time and include much uncertainty with regards to project drawings, detailed material lists and man-hours. Shipbuilding is definitely a large engineering construction project (LECP). Therefore it is logical to analyse how LECPs are contracted and managed in other industries which successfully minimize contract risk and constantly ensure profit in its business. In this paper two new shipbuilding-contracting models are presented and applied in a generic case study of contracting the newbuilding of a prototype vessel. The Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) and the Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) contract models are demonstrated as improving the contracting process while yielding positive results for production, both in relation to the core capabilities of the shipyard as well as the sub-contracted activities in vessel production. Likewise a product work breakdown structure PWBS is shown as the model for shipyard business that very well complements the advanced contracting models. Finally a new contract risk analysis method using Monte Carlo simulation is developed to show how to practically analyse and compare the contracting methods in a case study so that shipyard management could choose the contracting model with the least amount of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented in which the author discusses the role of People's Republic of China (PRC) shipbuilding disputes in London arbitration in creating threats of parallel proceedings in China. Topics discussed include the importance of proper arbitration clauses in contracts for dispute resolution, the importance of refund guarantee in shipbuilding contracts, and the impact of global financial crisis on sales and prices of ships.

The negotiation behaviors of stakeholders in construction project are analyzed by employing KMRW reputation model. The replicator dynamic models of general contractor and owner are separately established. Two kinds of evolutionary stable strategy of dynamic game in construction project negotiation, trust and distrust, are elicited based on the replicator dynamic models. Discount coefficient, excess income and initial dedication of partners are identified as three critical factors which affect the evolutionary directions of construction project negotiation system. Based on the analysis of three factors' effects on project negotiation system, it is reasoned out that adopting trust strategy is the critical success factor for keeping cooperative evolutionary direction and cooperative stability of project negotiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the shipyards at Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia that built Liberty cargo ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission during World War II. The construction of the Savannah facility is discussed, including the government seizure of the site from Savannah Shipyards and transfer to Southeastern Shipbuilding, and the ensuing litigation. Also discussed is the construction of the facility at Brunswick Harbor, by Brunswick Marine Construction Company and J. A. Jones Construction Company.

The paper deals with the institute of the shipbuilding contract in general and with its regulation in the Croatian Maritime Code. After the introductory note about naval architecture, the author systematically analyzes the concept and the legal nature of the shipbuilding contracts in the Republic of Croatia, and in some foreign countries (the USA, England and Italy). The text proceeds by analyzing all essential elements of this contract, beginning with the definition of the shipbuilding contract, form of contract, execution of the contract, ownership of the boat in the construction, shipbuilders responsibilities and obligations, control of the shipbuilding construction and the types thereof, responsibility for deficiencies, price, retention right, delivery of the ship, delay of delivery and force majeure, statute of limitations, etc. Special attention is devoted to situations and execution of shipbuilding contracts with international element and the issues of applicable law and court jurisdiction. International conventions that are relevant for the unification of regulations of the shipbuilding contract are discussed, as well as the best known clauses that are most often used in practice. In conclusion the author positively evaluates current normative arrangement of the shipbuilding contract giving a brief overview of the current state of the Croatian shipbuilding industry and stressing the need for a faster restructuring and renovation of Croatian shipyards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a description of how the U.S. Navy structures fixed-price and fixed-price, incentive-fee shipbuilding contracts. Illustrative examples of how the service utilizes labor- and material-cost indexes are given, starting with an example of a fixed-price contract. The authors refuse to recommend the use of the Steel Vessel Index to adjust for material cost changes in future shipbuilding contracts due to its shortcomings, instead they urge the Navy to develop a Modern Vessel Index.

The article presents abstracts of studies taken from the Sorta 2006 Symposium Proceedings. Some of the abstracts presented include "Draught and Weight Corrections Based on Air Weight Calculation," by Irena Kota and colleagues, "Multi Purpose Eco-Work Ship Eko Plovput 50," by Danko Gugic et al and "Defining Ship's Form by Using Nurbs Surfaces."

The article discusses payment guarantees and on demand bonds in Great Britain as of October 2012, focusing on the 2012 England and Wales High Court's ruling in the case (1) Wuhan Guoyu Logistics Co. Ltd. (2) Yangzhou Guoyo Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. v. Emporiki Bank of Greece SA. The case reportedly involved an alleged guarantee of a second installment regarding the price for a vessel due under a shipbuilding contract.