Extended Operational and Trade Vocabulary

Maritime Arbitration and Dispute Resolution glossary (page 2)

Terminology of maritime arbitration: ad hoc versus institutional proceedings under LMAA Terms and UNCITRAL rules, the adversarial common-law model, affirmations and agreed bundles, allocation of costs following the event, and the amiable-compositeur and procedural concepts governing resolution of charterparty and shipping disputes in London, New York and Singapore.

316 defined terms.

Showing 66 on this page (page 2 of 2).

S

Section 67: Challenge to award on substantive jurisdiction.
Section 68: Challenge to award for serious irregularity causing substantial injustice.
Section 69: Appeal on a point of law, with leave; can be excluded by agreement (and is by LMAA Terms 2021).
Section 70: Procedural requirements for challenges, including exhaustion of arbitral process.
Section 9 English Arbitration Act 1996: Court power to stay proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement.
Security for claim: Security provided to support a maritime claim, often arranged through P&I Club letters of undertaking.
Security for Costs: An order requiring a claimant to provide security for the respondent's costs of the reference.
Serious irregularity (s 68): Statutory ground for challenge requiring identified irregularity plus substantial injustice; rarely successful in practice.
Service-out gateway: English jurisdictional gateway for proceedings related to arbitration; revised in CPR after 2020 to facilitate enforcement.
Set-aside application: Application to the curial court to annul an award; in England, under sections 67, 68, and 69 of the 1996 Act.
Settlement: payment in discharge of the claim.
SHELLTIME 4: Shell standard time charter party for tankers.
SHELLVOY 6: Shell standard tanker voyage charter party.
Ship sale and purchase arbitration: Disputes under NSF (Norwegian Saleform), SHIPSALE 22, or NIPPONSALE, with arbitration clauses pointing to London, Tokyo, or other seats.
Shipbuilding arbitration: Disputes under SAJ form, BIMCO NEWBUILDCON, or shipyard standard forms, often referred to LMAA London or HKIAC Hong Kong.
SIAC: Singapore International Arbitration Centre, institution founded in 1991 administering shipping cases under the SIAC Rules.
Singapore AA: Singapore Arbitration Act 2001 governing domestic Singapore arbitration distinct from the IAA.
Singapore IAA: Singapore International Arbitration Act (Cap 143A), implementing the UNCITRAL Model Law for international arbitrations seated in Singapore.
Slip rule: Power to correct clerical mistakes or accidental slips in awards under section 57 English Arbitration Act 1996 and equivalents.
SMA (Society of Maritime Arbitrators): New York-based maritime arbitration body operating under its own Maritime Arbitration Rules.
SMA Maritime Arbitration Rules 2016: Current SMA Rules effective 26 October 2016, codifying SMA practice including publication of awards.
SMA Mediation Rules: SMA's mediation framework for maritime disputes preceding or alongside arbitration.
SMA Short Form Procedure: Streamlined SMA process for small claims with a sole arbitrator, documents-only determination, and capped fees.
SMA Shortened Arbitration Procedure: Alternate expedited SMA process for mid-sized claims with single arbitrator and limited hearing time.
Sole Arbitrator: Single arbitrator appointed under expedited or small claims procedures.
Spanish Arbitration Act 2003: Arbitration law based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, used at Madrid seat for some Mediterranean maritime disputes.
Speed and consumption claim: Common time charter dispute over warranted performance, frequently arbitrated under NYPE 1993 clause 8(a).
Stay of proceedings: Court order pausing litigation in favor of arbitration under section 9 English Arbitration Act 1996 or section 6 Singapore IAA.
Submission to arbitration: Either an arbitration clause in a contract or a separate submission agreement after a dispute has arisen.
Substantive Jurisdiction: The tribunal's authority to decide the matters referred, examined under section 30 of the English Arbitration Act 1996.

T

Telephone hearing: Procedural hearing held by phone; routine in LMAA practice for short procedural matters.
Termination of mandate: End of arbitrator's authority upon issuance of final award (functus officio), removal, resignation, or death.
Terms of reference (ICC): Distinctive ICC document signed by parties and tribunal at the outset of an ICC arbitration framing the issues; not used in LMAA practice.
Three-arbitrator tribunal: Standard LMAA composition with two party-appointed arbitrators and a third (chair) appointed by the two co-arbitrators.
Time Bar: Limitation period (one year under Hague-Visby Article III Rule 6).
Time charter arbitration: Disputes under NYPE or SHELLTIME forms, including hire, performance, off-hire, redelivery, and bunker claims.
TOMAC: The Tokyo Maritime Arbitration Commission of the Japan Shipping Exchange Inc, administering maritime arbitrations in Tokyo.
TOMAC Rules: Procedural rules of TOMAC including the Ordinary Rules and the Simplified Procedure for smaller claims.
Transparency Rules (UNCITRAL 2014): Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration; not applicable to most commercial maritime arbitration.
Tribunal Secretary: An administrative assistant appointed to support an arbitral tribunal, subject to disclosure and party agreement.
Tribunal's discretion: Procedural latitude to design the arbitration within mandatory rules and party agreement.

U

UAE Arbitration Law (Federal Law No. 6 of 2018): UAE statute based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, used for arbitrations seated onshore in the UAE.
UK Arbitration Act 2025: New legislation reforming the English Arbitration Act 1996 with targeted amendments including a default rule that the law of the seat governs the arbitration agreement.
Umpire: Third arbitrator in two-arbitrator tribunals who decides if the original two arbitrators disagree, available under Sections 15 to 22 of the English Arbitration Act 1996.
UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (2013 revision): Incorporates the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency for investor-state cases initiated under treaties concluded on or after 1 April 2014.
UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976: Original ad hoc rules later revised in 2010.
UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 2010: Revised ad hoc rules used widely in international and maritime references, including by parties on the LMAA Terms.
UNCITRAL Model Law (1985 amended 2006): Model legislative text adopted by over 80 jurisdictions, basis for Hong Kong, Singapore, German, and other arbitration laws.
UNCITRAL Notes on Organising Arbitral Proceedings: Soft-law guidance on procedural design.
Unilateral Option Clause: A dispute resolution clause giving only one party the right to choose between arbitration and litigation, of contested enforceability.
Unreasonable behaviour costs: Costs ordered against a party for procedural conduct departing from reasonable standards; available under section 61 English Arbitration Act 1996 in tribunal's discretion.

V

Vacatur (US): US term for setting aside an award under section 10 FAA on grounds including corruption, fraud, evident partiality, and exceeding powers.
Venue: Physical location for hearings, distinct from the seat which is the legal jurisdiction; the seat does not change because hearings move.
Virtual hearing: Hearing conducted by video conference, now standard in maritime arbitration following 2020 protocols and reflected in SCMA Rules 2022 and SIAC Rules 2025 update drafts.
Voyage charter arbitration: Disputes over freight, demurrage, despatch, deviation, and cargo claims under voyage charterparties such as Gencon 1994 and ASBATANKVOY.

W

Waiver of jurisdictional objection: Loss of right to object to jurisdiction by participating in the arbitration without preserving the objection under section 73 English Arbitration Act 1996.
Warsaw Convention (carriage): Aviation convention, not maritime, but illustrative of mandatory-law constraints that can affect arbitrability in carriage contexts.
Wave standard maritime arbitration practice: Informal phrase for LMAA-aligned practice norms now adopted across SCMA and emerging Asian maritime tribunals.
Without prejudice communications: Settlement-related communications protected from disclosure to the tribunal absent waiver.
Witness conferencing: Hot-tubbing of witnesses or experts to test contested issues collaboratively before the tribunal.
Witness Statement: A written record of a witness's evidence, served in advance of the hearing in lieu of evidence in chief.
Witness summons: Court order under section 43 English Arbitration Act 1996 compelling attendance and document production by a witness in support of arbitration.
Written submissions: Formal pleadings exchanged in sequence (claim submissions, defence and counterclaim submissions, reply, rejoinder) under LMAA Terms paragraph 14.

X

X-clause incorporation: Generic term for selective incorporation of charterparty clauses into bills of lading, with arbitration incorporation governed by cases like The Federal Bulker and The Channel Ranger.

Y

York-Antwerp Rules disputes: Disputes over general average adjustments under YAR 1994, 2004, or 2016; rare but possible references to arbitration where parties so agree.

Z

Zone of arbitration: Informal label for the scope of disputes covered by an arbitration clause, construed broadly under Fiona Trust v Privalov (2007) in English law.