Mr Ahmed Said
Senior Associate

Ahmed Said joined our team in October 2016. We are happy to have him on board, as he has an extensive record of legal expertise.

Furthermore, Said has acquired a wide experience in handling maritime claims as he has participated in numerous cases in the Gulf and the Red Sea region, which afforded him extensive knowledge and enabled him to handle conservatory arrests of vessels and other general maritime claims, resulting from collision accidents, pollution, maritime transport, demurrage claims, sinking of vessels and writes off, salvage, mortgage, supplies provided to the vessels, ownership disputes, etc.

Mr Ahmed Fahim
Senior Associate

Ahmed Fahim joined our Firm in 2006 and has since worked on cases regarding intellectual property, Egyptian customs law and maritime law.

Ahmed is a keen member of our team and has acquired exceptional experience in handling intellectual property cases. We are proud to say that, on numerous occasions, our team has successfully handled IP claims and our efforts have materialised in elimination a multitude of “imitation goods”.

Ahmed is also very experienced in handling cases for shortage and damage sustained to the cargoes of oil and grains shipped in bulk onboard vessels. He has also acquired large experience in completing the necessary formalities of setting-up companies in Egypt, and he is experienced in handling labour cases.

Protection of the sea carrier in Egypt at the legislative and judicial levels

“A focused outlook on the transport of goods using containers”

In our modern era, the sea transport of containerised cargo is considered as one of the most important instruments produced by the trade exchange operations around the world. Since the emergence of containers as a means of transporting goods by sea, all parties in the field of maritime transport have tended to develop all the elements that enabled the containers to be ranked as the most common means for cargo transport.

The “sea carrier” holds the prominent role in the maritime transport process, where he draws a sea carriage contract with the shipper or his representative and bears the consequences of loading, transporting and maintaining the goods until they are delivered in proper condition to the consignees at the port of destination.

Moreover, the sea carrier bears numerous responsibilities associated with the transport process, starting from providing a seaworthy vessel from a navigational and commercial aspects to transport the goods, and then receiving, loading, stowage and transporting the goods and thereafter discharging these goods to deliver them to the consignees at the same condition they were shipped at and at the time specified for delivery.

the carrier’s bears the responsibilities and risks associated with the sea carriage and in return, he is entitled to receive protection and legal guarantees which would create such needed balance among the parties of the sea carriage contract.

In Egypt, the provisions of the local legislation regulating the maritime transport operation (Maritime Trade Law No. 8 of 1990) are enacted in a manner that is consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea “Hamburg 1978” in terms of the guarantees granted to the carrier, whether regarding providing the carrier with the right data, condition and description of the goods, or such guarantees related to the payment of the freight or its accessories and the setting cases for limitation of carrier’s liability.

The aforementioned Egyptian Maritime law has uniquely developed flexible solutions for one of the most vital problems faced by the sea carrier in the transport operation, where the consignee does not apply for taking delivery of the cargo and devanning of the container, or when the consignee applies for obtaining a delivery order but does not complete the final customs clearance.

Whether the responsibility for non-receipt of the goods is due to the shipper or the consignee, the carrier has the right to receive his container instead of leaving it as a good’s warehouse for an indefinite period, which constitutes direct losses to the carrier for depriving him from using the container, which is an essential tool for transporting the goods and disrupting the usage of the container in successive transport operations.

In this respect, the Egyptian legislator addressed these problems by granting the carrier the right to apply before the Judge of Provisional matters (Le juge des référés) requesting for a permission to deposit the goods with a trustee to be appointed by the judge and to receive the empty container while granting the carrier a lien over the cargo for settlement of the freight and/or other associated claims arising from the sea carriage contract. As a result, this has contributed to reducing the number of unclaimed containers and their accumulation in the ports.

The receipt of the container puts an end to the damages resulting from the non-receipt of the goods, and this does not prevent the carrier from his right of judicial recourse against the responsible for the demurrage, which is usually specified in the maritime transport contract as well as in the payment of any amounts resulting from the none of receipt, such as demurrage – port expenses – destruction costs …etc.

Through the specialisation of our firm in handling marine transport disputes, we have succeeded in obtaining numerous court rulings holding in favour of the “sea carrier” to compensate for any damage that may be caused as a result of the breach of the sea carriage contract.