Shipping lawyers are however advising clients to take precautionary measures both in their contracts and at an operational level onboard. At a briefing on the issue Ince & Co partner Suyin Anand highlighted one particular example of the Ebola clause which is increasingly being written into charterparties.
This is usually being written in as a hybrid of existing radioactive and piracy clauses, she said, adding that a problematic point that could arise is the high degree of discretion given to the master in this case.
"How do you determine whether the master is exercising discretion reasonably?" she asked. Anand, however, conceded that it would probably take some time to play out before a precedent can be set.
Besides the Ebola clause, other terms of contract issues to look at include trading limit clauses and fever and epidemic clauses, she said. For example, it would be important to note if contracts included exclusions to Ebola-affected ports of call and if there was a liberty clause.
Other issues include safe ports and the safety of crew. In this respect, the key question would be what the consequences of calling an Ebola-affected port would be and what the risk of a crew member being infected is. While the risk of infection remains relatively low currently, Anand noted that this situation could change dramatically if Ebola mutates into an airborne disease.
Practical steps she suggested owners and operators can take are to strictly enforce ISPS measures while also making extra efforts to ensure that crew changes and shore leave is not carried out in Ebola-affected areas.
Other measures include using malaria kits onboard to isolate malaria as a cause in the event of crew illness, since both Ebola and malaria present similar symptoms initially.
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