The MLA is pleased to host a lecture series on the Introduction to Shipping, presented by Roy Martin. The first lecture was delivered on 23 February 2023 at Cox Yeats attorneys. MLA members, colleagues from the bar and students were in attendance. Watch this space for future dates!

Sharmila Naidoo who previously held the position has resigned. The secretary position will be filled by Aideen Ross until the 2023 AGM and Conference. We would like to thank Sharmila for her dedication and contribution to the Executive Committee and are pleased that she will continue to contribute to the MLA and the revival of our Johannesburg Branch.

Please see the invite here

Mv Tarik III [2022] ZASCA 136 (13 October 2022)

Congratulations to MLA member Sharon Msiza as the successful applicant for the INCE Internship Programme (in association with the MLASA).

To read more about the internship programme and this prestigious opportunity initiated by INCE and the MLASA please see the application form and write up below.

We wish Sharon well on this exciting new adventure and look forward to receiving her feedback!

Ince Internship Programme in association with the MLASA - 10 September 2021

The Maritime Law Association of South Africa held its 2022 Conference and Annual General Meeting over the weekend of 19 August 2022 to 21 August 2022. The conference and AGM were hosted at the Arabella Hotel, Golf & Spa in Hermanus, Western Cape. The theme of the conference was “Reinventing the Art of War: Sanctions, Security, Law and Policy”. The conference was well-attended with over 60 members from across the industry present. This was the first in-person conference since the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, which was refreshing after having had our last 3 conferences online, via Microsoft Teams.

We are indebted to the Honourable Judge Malcolm Wallis for presenting the opening address at the conference. The MLASA is very grateful to Judge Wallis for his continued contributions to the MLA and involvement in our conferences, meetings and chapter events.

The conference agenda (below) was packed with informative and topical presentations by respected speakers from all over the world. A special thanks to all of our international speakers:

The Honourable Justice Angus Stewart, Federal Australian Judge
Julian Clarke, Global Senior Partner at Ince, UK
Michelle Linderman, Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, UK
Harmen Hoek, owner of Hoek ten Katen, Netherlands
Captain Ken Ellam, Solis Marine, Singapore

Thank you also to Captain Nicholas Sloane, our proudly South African salvage master par excellence, founder of FNI and President of the International Salvage Union. We were privileged to have Captain Sloane take time out of his busy global schedule to present at our conference, always a fun and educational affair.

We would like to thank Mr Dumisani Ntuli, Chief Director of Maritime Transport Policy and Legislation at the Department of Transport as well as Mr Vusi September, Executive: Corporate Affairs at SAMSA for their contributions as presenters at the conference. Their valuable insights into the work of the Department of Transport and SAMSA is an important aspect to our conferences and key to maintaining the cohesion between the legal fraternity and legislative and policy organisations within government. Aside from this, it is always a pleasure to host members of SAMSA and the DOT and to get to know one another. Mr Ntuli is a stalwart attendee at the conference and his contributions and engagements over many years is always a conference highlight.

During the course of the conference and, in a slightly different format than years gone by, the Steven Wallace Maritime Trust Auction was hosted by way of a silent auction. A big thank you to the Firms, individuals and businesses for providing the Steven Wallace Maritime Trust with auction items. These firms, individuals and businesses include Cox Yeats, Webber Wentzel, ENS, Captain Guy Barker, Solution Strategists, Bowmans, Clyde & Co and Arabella Hotel courtesy of Tsogo Sun. Successful bidders were announced at the Saturday night gala dinner, at which a last-minute auction item of homemade marmalade and curd, donated by Captain Barker was sold for a smart sum of R5,000.00 thanks to the gallant efforts of our outgoing president Lerato Maboea, who seems to have harboured a secret skill as an auctioneer. Well done, Lerato! The total amount raised was R44,
500.00. Please visit our website to read more about the work of the Steven Wallace Maritime Trust.

The AGM took place on Sunday, 21 August 2022. Unfortunately, the AGM was not particularly well- attended, possibly due to the festivities the night before. Thanks do go to those members who did attend in person and to those who provided proxies in order that the Executive’s business could be progressed.

All members of the National Executive of the MLASA had completed their terms of office. Save for the office of the President and Vice President, all executive members were eligible to stand for re- election in their previous positions. The new executive committee comprises:

Lisa Mills	President	Advocate, Durban Bar
Andre October	Vice President	Webber Wentzel
	Cape Town Chapter Chair
Tamryn Simpson	Treasurer	Cox Yeats
Sharmila Naidoo	Secretary	Webber Wentzel
Anisa Govender	Executive Member	Livingston Leandy
	Durban Chapter Chair
Bibi Aisha Motala	Executive Member	ENS
Carol Holness	Executive Member	Norton Rose Fulbright
Dusty Donnelly	Executive Member	Lecturer, UKZN
Jabu Thobela-Mkhulisi	Executive Member	Advocate, Durban Bar
Peter Lamb	Executive Member	Norton Rose Fulbright
Malcolm Hartwell	Ex Officio	Norton Rose Fulbright

The incoming executive committee gives thanks to outgoing president Lerato Maboea for her time and leadership during her presidency of the MLASA. Lerato has expressed a keen interest to remain involved in the MLASA transformation subcommittee and other important transformation initiatives of the MLASA. Thank you Lerato!

Two further key National MLASA initiatives were discussed.

Most members will have by now seen the new look and feel of the National MLASA website. The executive committee is grateful to Peter Edwards and Leigh Edwards, for their service in maintaining he previous MLASA website. Much of the content contained in the “new look and feel” has been retained and new content and resources are being updated. We recommend to members to take some time to navigate the new website and to provide the website committee with any suggestions and input that you may have. The website committee is looking for any historical resources and new resources to add to its database. These can be anything from judgments, articles or news. Any and all members are permitted to post articles that they have written or judgments that they have been involved in in order to build up this database. The website committee is headed by Tamryn Simpson at Cox Yeats.

The second initiative is the reconstitution of the MLASA subcommittees. A number of the subcommittees have become redundant over the years or have members who have moved on or no longer want to be involved. Peter Lamb at Norton Rose Fulbright is running this initiative and will be in contact with erstwhile subcommittee chairs and members, as well as the broader membership, to address the appoint of new members to these subcommittees. The subcommittees are listed on the website. If you would like to become involved in one or more, please contact Peter Lamb.

The minutes of the AGM will be posted in due course. Watch this space!

MLASA Conference and AGM Programme 2022

The Portfolio Committee on Transport invites stakeholders to submit written comments on the Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment Bill [B5 -2022].

The Bill seeks to amend the Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act, 1986 so as to give effect to Annex IV of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships to incorporate the 1997 Protocol in order to give effect to Annex VI of the Convention; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Details about commenting are available on the Parliamentary Monitoring Group website at the following link:  https://pmg.org.za/call-for-comment/1205/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=request-for-comment-from-parliament&utm_source=transactional

The closing date for submissions is 21 October 2022.

Please contact Sharmila Naidoo (Sharmila.Naidoo@webberwentzel.com) in the event that you would like to join a MLASA working group to submit comment on the Bill. Sharmila will direct you to the relevant Committee Chairperson.

Siyakhuphuka v Ports Regulator and Others

Eulogy 

SHANE MICHAEL STEPHEN DWYER 

It is with sadness, and with huge admiration and affection, that we say farewell to Shane Dwyer, a past president and founding member of this association. 

He leaves a huge void in South Africa’s maritime legal fraternity, and indeed in legal and maritime insurance circles worldwide. 

To quote from the circular sent by Shepstone & Wylie to their clients to announce his death: 

Shane commenced articles with Shepstone and Wylie in 1972 and such was his ability and drive that he was made a partner in 1975. His contribution to S&W was extraordinary. 

Even though he was able to retire in 2012 (having turned 66) it was unimaginable that he would retire and be lost to Shepstone and Wylie. He therefore continued to serve Shepstone and Wylie up until a couple of months ago—an extraordinary period of 50 years’ service.

During that time, not only did he place his indelible mark on shipping law in South Africa, but he moved naturally into the leadership of Shepstone & Wylie which, under his guidance and with his personal dynamism and vision, he modernised and expanded dramatically to the force it is today. 

He was a moderniser, a totally out of the box thinker and innovator, yet he stayed true to his academic roots and could quote extensively and incisively from Roman Dutch law, learned with distinction at Stellenbosch University. 

Those enquiring qualities and his extraordinary vision were seminal in the incubation and emergence of our world-renowned 1983 Admiralty Jurisdiction Regulation Act. Shane’s shrewd intellect and force of character were instrumental in creating the modern maritime legal environment in which we operate. Indeed, the concept of associated ship arrest was something he very first mooted when the MLA began working on the new legislation. 

When Shane started at Shepstone & Wylie as a youngster in 1972 (having first captured the heart of and married the then senior partner’s daughter, Susie Oosthuizen), Roger Gifford was probably the only shipping lawyer in Durban. Roger could be said therefore to have been the first real shipping specialist, but with the arrival of his protégé, the practice of maritime law moved up a notch and then took off. Shane had the instinct, vision, and forcefulness to lead the thrust of maritime law in this country out of the 1890’s (the English Admiralty Act of 1890 still applied when he started out) into the late 20th century, putting South Africa squarely on the legal map. One could say that Shane laid out the maritime legal playing field on which today’s maritime lawyers happily play, very largely thanks to his massive contribution to maritime law in this country. 

Although often an intimidating person to work for, he was a superb mentor and teacher. There are many very successful lawyers in and outside his own firm, at the South African and English Bars, in commerce and in the leading law firms and P&I Clubs around the world who have learned their trade under his (demanding) guidance. All hold him in huge regard and affection. 

Shane was a legal opponent to be feared. However, although he radiated absolute personal and professional confidence, outside of the gladiatorial arena he had a deep dislike of the spotlight, flattery or praise. In his personal life, he liked nothing more than standing in the river on his farm in Underberg, fishing for trout, Castle Lager and pipe in hand. He adored his wonderful wife Susie, an absolute rock throughout his career, and his children Sean, Kate and Patrick, and our sincerest condolences go out to them.

Download Eulogy PDF