Extreme weather such as has been experienced in
Queensland lately has, as usual, raised the controversial issue of
"force majeure".
"Force majeure" is most often encountered in the
maritime context when a shipper claims to be unable to provide a
contracted cargo because of some external cause - typically a flood
preventing mine operations or cargo transport.
The shipper may then "declare" force majeure to avoid
its obligation to load the cargo. Resulting financial losses will
fall on someone – usually the shipowner or charterer
– who will wish to know whether the declaration of force
majeure is factually justified and legally valid.
There is no official regime in Australia of registering force
majeure events. Further, the party declaring force majeure will
rarely, if ever, permit others access to the relevant site to
independently verify the facts.
