These disputes rarely get to the courts. They are resolved amicably or dealt with in arbitration.

'Few ports are "safe" in all weather conditions. If a ship arrives, but can not enter a port because of tidal or meteorological reasons, it does not follow that the port is unsafe. A port will become unsafe though if a temporary danger arises which the master of a ship could not have known about in advance.

Temporary dangers include bad weather, the removal of navigation lights, missing fenders and shoaling. A port might become inherently unsafe if a master is not given sufficient information to enable him to judge whether he needs to take action to avoid the danger. This lack of advance warning means there has been a breakdown of the safety system in the port and that makes it unsafe.

'If something occurs at a berth which is abnormal it can make the berth unsafe. This could cover maintenance items like the removal of one or two hauling off buoys for repair. The berth itself must be safe for the ship in a laden condition to enter and leave but a berth that is safe for one ship may not be for another.

If a berth is perfectly safe for tankers with segregated ballast tanks for example, it might not be safe for a free flowing tanker which might find it more difficult to ballast down, to avoid being blown off the berth.

'A classic defence to an allegation that a port or berth is unsafe is to argue that the master of a vessel did not exercise good seamanship, or that the accident could have been avoided if good seamanship had been exercised. Very often these cases come down to unravelling the particular facts in a particular berth at a particular time. For that reason no two cases are ever the same.'

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