By: James Mackay, Claims Executive Consultant Home / News / Advice / Coronavirus – legal guidance for Members Advice, Loss Prevention Coronavirus – legal guidance for Members 3 March, 2020 By: James Mackay, Claims Executive Consultant This Guide comments in general on some legal issues in relation to charterparties which Members might encounter as a result of measures that are being imposed by national authorities in response to the outbreak and spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The World Health Organisation has classified COVID-19 as a global emergency. The WHO website publishes practical guidance and contains situation reports: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus This Guide is not intended to address these matters in detail nor be a comprehensive guide, particularly as the situation is rapidly developing. It addresses the issues from the perspective of English law. Members should also take into account the advice and guidance of local correspondents on practical, regulatory and procedural matters in operation at specific ports. Port Safety  Time charterers may not order the vessel to an unsafe port in breach of an express or implied warranty in the charterparty. The test is whether at the time when the order is given the vessel can reach it, use it and return from it without being exposed to dangerous features that are not the result of an abnormal occurrence. There is also an obligation to change voyage orders if the port subsequently becomes unsafe before the vessel reaches it. In some charters (the Baltime form, for example), there is an express prohibition on the charterer ordering the vessel to a port where fever or epidemics are prevalent. Where there is no express provision such as that, however, there is likely to be substantial doubt as to whether the safe port warranty permits the rejection of an order by reference to concerns about COVID-19. It involves questions of fact and law. Generally, case law deals with the risk of phys