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<title>The Webster Group</title>
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<description>Latest news from WK Webster</description><language>en-uk</language>
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	<title><![CDATA[Queen's Award for Enterprise ]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[The Directors and staff of W K Webster &amp; Co Ltd are extremely proud and pleased to advise our Clients and our business colleagues that the Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade has been awarded to the firm.
This Award is not granted lightly and there are stringent criteria that must be fulfilled.  Following the recommendation of the Prime Minister,  Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve this Award to WKW.
These prestigious Awards are announced each year on Her Majesty's birthday, 21 April.  This year is very special in that we celebrate Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee. 
The Award will be formally conferred later in the year by a ceremonial Grant of Appointment.  We hope to arrange for as many of our staff as possible to be present since this Award is about them and their personal contributions, without whom the Award would not have been achieved. This is a wonderful addendum to our 150th anniversary in 2011 and we are extremely proud to share it with you.]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=121]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2012-04-23T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[RIMS Conference]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[
Mr Anthony Smith, Director of W.K.Webster &amp; Co will be attending the above conference. If any current or potential client would wish to discuss Transit Claims Management, please make contact either by e-mail to asmith@wkwebsteroverseas.com or on cellphone (+1) 917 837 2831 so a meeting can be arranged during the RIMS week.
]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=120]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2012-02-23T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[Bruce Mead]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[It is with a heavy heart that I bring the news of the death last night of Bruce Mead.  He had been admitted into hospital on New Year's Day.   Bruce was, of course, known to many of you having retired as Partner in charge of Cargo Claims relatively recently in 2003.  Shortly after retirement Bruce was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease which slowly gained ground despite his renowned tenacity. Our thoughts are with Janet and Hannah today and other members of Bruce's family. John W R Martin]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=119]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2012-01-05T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[150th Anniversary Brochure]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[150th Anniversary Brochure
To mark our 150th Anniversary, we have compiled a Commemorative Brochure. It is an informal, hopefully humorous, look back over the firm's history. We are grateful and indebted to John Martin, our longest serving Partner, for his research, diligence and compilation of facts, stories and anecdotes that all go to make up the secret history of the Firm. If you would like to view our anniversary brochure please click here .
We hope that you shall enjoy reading the booklet as much as we enjoyed putting it together.]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=118]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2011-05-27T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[CLEOPATRA DREAM - Salvage or Not? ]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[In this matter our Hull Claims Management Services acted on behalf of the vessel&rsquo;s Japanese Hull and Machinery Underwriters as well as it&rsquo;s Owners. Assisted by South African attorneys, the matter was first heard by the Western Cape High Court and subsequently by the Supreme Court of Appeal. The dispute concerned whether the claimant the national port authority (Transnet Ltd) was entitled to a salvage award for assistance rendered to the vessel and her cargo pursuant to an engine breakdown which took place within port limits. At the material time, the vessel was drifting towards shallow water and as a result, the attending pilot (employed by Transnet) summoned harbour tugs to assist. The question arose as to whether the services of Transnet were rendered voluntarily qualifying it for a salvage award or pursuant to a statutory and common law duty precluding it from claiming salvage. The Western Cape High Court judged that Transnet had not acted voluntarily within the meaning of salvage law and decided that it was not entitled to claim a salvage award. On appeal, Transnet maintained that the services were not provided under a statutory or common law duty and that consequently the services were voluntary. It also claimed that in the event the court found that it had rendered the assistance under a duty, it was still entitled to a salvage award in light of the provisions of the International Convention on Salvage. The appeal court dismissed the appeal on the grounds that it agreed with the lower court that if services are rendered under a pre-existing duty to assist, they are not salvage. The court also found that a salvage claim would usually be denied even where a duty does not exist if the services were of the nature of those to be expected of a claimant in the capacity in which it performs them. In addition, the court judged that the International Salvage Convention does not exclude voluntariness in salvage operations rendered by a public authority burdened with a duty. However, it found that consideration must first be given to the provisions of domestic law before the extent of a claimant&rsquo;s entitlement to a salvage award can be established. In this instance, it was decided that Transnet could not claim a salvage award because the assistance was provided entirely within the scope of it&rsquo;s duty and not voluntarily. The advice of our South African attorneys is that the judgement mirrors the pertinent national legislation as well as the Salvage Convention as incorporated into South African law by the Wreck and Salvage Act. The security lodged by ship, cargo, bunkers, stores and freight interests in favour of the claimants in the total amount of ZAR9,000,000 (approximately USD1,320,000) plus interest and costs is now being cancelled. (Apr 2011) ]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=116]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2011-04-15T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[Proudly Celebrating Our 150th Anniversary ]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[Founded pre-1861, WKW started life as EE Wendt and serviced primarily clients writing H&amp;M business in Scandinavia and German-speaking Europe. Over its life, it has developed a totally international client base and has transformed into the world's foremost specialised Marine &amp; Transit Claims Management provider. All marine lines of business are handled - Cargo, Hull &amp; Transit - both Property &amp; Liability - delivered Locally, Regionally, Globally.Our continued success is certainly down to many factors. We believe that key amongst these are that we remain an owner-managed business, we are focussed on core business expertise and we hold customer service above all. From these tenets, we have achieved an enviable reputation and successful growth, almost invariably through client referral.We particularly thank our dedicated and loyal staff members (past and present) for their knowledge, dedication and hard work. It is they who help us to provide the highly professional level of service we always strive to deliver.And, above all, we would like to thank our clients for their support and kindness over the decades. We consider ourselves as an extension of your own companies and we develop with you in a changing and demanding market place. We appreciate greatly our relationships with you.We look forward to the next 150 years. ]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=117]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2011-04-11T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[W K Webster (International) Pte Ltd, Singapore]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[As some of our clients are aware, there have recently been some personnel movements in our Singapore Associate Office. We are therefore taking this opportunity to advise you of the structure of the office and, at the same time, to remind you of the extensive in-depth knowledge, experience and services which our office provides.
The Singapore office is substantial, having a total staff of 75 persons. We believe that this makes it by far the single largest Marine &amp; Transit Claims Agency in Asia. It offers Total Marine Claims Management in all marine transit specialities - Cargo, Hull &amp; Transit Liability. In addition, the office can call upon the Webster Group's other 150 colleagues around the globe - (professionally qualified) insurance technicians; lawyers; master mariners; surveyors &amp; commodity experts; loss prevention &amp; professionally recognised risk analysis personnel.
The Resident Director is Martin Terrell. Following his time at admiralty solicitors Ince &amp; Co, Martin joined W K Webster London in 1978. He was instrumental in the running of a previous subsidiary, Mutual Management Services. He specialises in the handling of Hull Claims. In 2001, he was transferred to Singapore as Resident Director.
There are 3 cargo departments - Cargo Claims, Recoveries and Cargo Casualty Management. In charge of these is Mark Allison, General Manager. Mark joined W K Webster in 1995 and has worked in the Hull, CCM and Cargo Departments, which included a 2 year posting to Singapore 2003-5. He has gained the following qualifications - Dip. CII, PG Dip.Maritime Law. .
Cargo Claims specialises in the investigation, adjusting and/or settling of Cargo PA losses. The Cargo Claims Manager is Annie Cheong. Having gained 15 years related experience in the insurance industry, latterly with Marsh subsidiary Reclaim (a Recoveries operation), Annie joined us in 2008. She has had responsibilities in both the Cargo and Recoveries Depts and now manages Cargo Claims. She has also qualified as LLM.
Recoveries specialises in the recovery of monies from parties responsible for the loss. In the majority, these are in respect of Cargo PA losses but other recoveries are also pursued. The Recoveries Manager is Allan Cheng. Allan joined W K Webster as a Senior Executive Officer in September 2000. He was promoted to Assistant Manager in January 2006 and to the position of Manager in April 2008. Allan has over 25 years experience in marine and transport, investigations and recoveries and holdS legal and insurance qualifications.
CCM acts for Cargo Interests in marine and financial casualties where the voyage is interrupted or terminated short of destination. Salvage, GA and, nowadays, Piracy are high on the agenda. The CCM Manager is Ken Fulker. Ken has 28 years P &amp; I Club claims experience including 4 years P&amp;I Club Correspondent in Rotterdam. He joined W K Webster in 2001 where his experience in CCM has been extremely valuable to clients. Ken transferred from London to Singapore in June 2008.
The Hull Department acts for H&amp;M Underwriters in a wide variety of cases, including GA, FFO, Collision, Salvage, Tug &amp; Tow. Specialist services include casualty investigation and PA or GA adjusting. The Department is headed by Martin Terrell.
This Regional Office has a wholly owned subsidiary - W K Webster Services (Pte) Ltd. The Divisional Director is Brian Jenner. Brian's accomplishments are too extensive to list fully. In brief, he joined the Webster group in 2001, having previously worked for a number of well known Classification Societies. He is a Master Engineer and holds a B.Sc. in Nautical Studies from the University of Plymouth. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management.
Through its Divisions it provides the following:- Seawise Maritime Services provides specialist H&amp;M survey, consultancy, risk analysis and expert witness services. - International Surveyors &amp; Adjusters handles cargo &amp; transit liability surveys.- ITAL (Asia) handles transit liability claims, investigations &amp; recoveries.
Full details of our services, capabilities and experience may be found elsewhere on this site.
We trust that this summary is a useful reminder to you of the extent of our operation in Asia and of the various professional services we are able to provide. If you have any further questions, please do contact Martin Terrell or Mark Allison in Singapore or Andrew Joannou in London.]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=114]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2010-11-15T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[Somali Piracy and New Executive Order ]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[We have recently sent a Circular on this subject to our US clients. We appreciate that the matter may also be relevant to clients outside the US, in particular those who also have a presence in the US, and if you have not received the circular, you can obtain a copy by clicking here.]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=104]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2010-04-25T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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	<title><![CDATA[Volatile Ship Values ]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[
The impact of the global credit crisis on the shipping industry is substantially reducing ship values and thereby increasing the proportion of Salvage and GA costs allocated to cargo insurers. We anticipate that this will continue for at least the next 18 months.


Contributions towards Salvage services are calculated pro rata to salved values. Similarly, contributions towards General Average loss are calculated pro rata to sound arrived values at the port(s) of destination. Over the last two decades, cargo values have (on average) steadily increased and therefore Cargo Insurers are bearing an increasing share of these expenses.


Ship values have also increased on average, particularly specialised vessels and ever larger container vessels. However, the ship market is more volatile than the cargo market and is therefore subject to greater fluctuations. The global financial crisis has, over the last months, seriously affected ship values. They have deteriorated considerably. We are aware, for example, of one container vessel whose value has decreased from c. USD 40 million to c. USD 27 million in three weeks.


This huge reduction in ship values means that Cargo Insurers will be bearing a much higher percentage of any Salvage expenses and/or General Average losses. The situation is unlikely to change, in our view, for at least 18 months.


It is therefore vital that Cargo Insurers act very promptly (even more swiftly than usual) should they be involved in any Salavge and/or General Average casualty. To best protect your interests, early advice is crucial and prompt investigation is more important than ever.

]]></description>
	<link><![CDATA[http://www.wkwebster.com/content/read.asp?ID=94]]></link>
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	<dc:date>2009-07-15T0:0:1+00:00</dc:date> 
	<dc:creator>WK Webster</dc:creator>
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