1. Acceptance of these terms
These terms form a binding agreement between you and Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc. You accept them when you use the website, when you send an enquiry through the contact form, and when you agree to a watch engagement. If you do not accept them, please do not use the website and do not engage the desk.
Where you accept these terms for an organization, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organization and that the organization will be responsible for the agreement. Where you are an employee or an agent, the organization is the client and you are the contact person at the desk.
A separate written engagement may add to or vary these terms for a particular watch. Where the engagement conflicts with these terms, the engagement prevails for that watch, and these terms continue to govern the website and every other matter.
2. Words used in this agreement
The company means Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc., with its registered office at 103-3485 rue Edmond-Hardy, Longueuil - J4N 0J5, Canada (CA). The desk means the watch office operated by the company. The website means every page served from https://www.miqmaritime.lol.
The watch means the maritime watch service described in these terms, including the radar plot desk, blip log rounds, sweep weeks, harbor watch days, AIS track sessions and log sheet evenings. A record means the plot notes, blip logs, track sheets and log sheets produced during a watch. A client means the organization or person that engages the watch.
Business day means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday in Quebec. Written includes email and any message sent through the contact form, and writing is read in the same way.
3. Who may engage the watch
The watch desk serves professional clients: vessel operators, harbor authorities, research fleets, survey teams and similar organizations. You may engage the desk if you are at least eighteen years old and you have the authority to act for the organization that will receive the service.
We may decline an engagement where the request falls outside the scope of the desk, where the water is outside our reach, or where the engagement would conflict with an existing watch. We will explain the reason for a refusal in plain words and, where we can, we will suggest another way to get the record you need.
The website is not intended for children, and the desk does not run a watch for a private individual acting outside a business or professional capacity.
4. The watch services
The desk provides a maritime watch made of six motions. The radar plot desk plots every contact on the scope and keeps the plot current. Blip log rounds turn the plot into a written record at fixed intervals. Sweep weeks compare the live plot with the archive across a wider band of bearings. Harbor watch days narrow the desk to one anchorage. AIS track sessions follow a named vessel or a small group through a passage. Log sheet evenings close the record for the day.
The desk describes each motion on the services page of the website. The description on that page is an outline and not a promise of a particular result. Where the engagement names a motion, the desk runs that motion; a motion that is not named in the engagement is not part of the service.
The desk may change a method from time to time where a change improves the record. A change that would reduce the scope of a current watch is agreed with the client before it is made.
5. Briefing and plot band
Every watch begins with a brief. The client names the water, the hours, the passages and the contacts that matter, and the desk sets the plot band and the round interval. The brief is written down, and the written brief is the reference for the watch until the client agrees a change.
The desk runs two or three trial rounds at a low pace before a watch goes live. The trial rounds let the client see the plot, the blip log and the evening sheet, and let the desk confirm that the band is set correctly. A trial round is not a completed watch and does not produce a record for release.
Where the client gives incomplete or changing information during the brief, the desk may need to reset the band and restart the trial rounds. Any delay caused by incomplete information rests with the client, and the desk will say so at the time.
6. Scheduling and watch windows
The engagement sets the watch window and the round interval. The desk keeps the window as agreed, and a change to the window is requested in writing and confirmed by the desk before it takes effect. A short notice change may reduce the number of rounds that can be run.
Watch rounds run through the night even when the office is closed. The office hours published on the contact page describe when a watchkeeper answers the telephone and the mailbox; they do not describe the hours of the watch itself.
Where a scheduled watch window falls on a public holiday, the desk will confirm whether rounds will run. Unless the engagement says otherwise, rounds continue through a public holiday and the closing sheet is issued on the next business day.
7. Your obligations
The client agrees to give the desk accurate information at the brief and to keep it current. Where a vessel, a passage or a contact changes, the client tells the desk promptly so that the plot band can be adjusted before the next round.
The client agrees to use the record for its own operational and professional purposes only, and not to publish or resell the record without the written agreement of the desk. Where the record includes information about another person, the client handles it under its own privacy obligations.
The client agrees to pay the fees set out in the engagement, to keep its contact details current, and to nominate one contact person who can give instructions to the desk. Instructions from a person other than the nominated contact are accepted only when the desk can confirm the authority of that person.
8. Fees and payment
The fees for a watch are set out in the engagement. Unless the engagement says otherwise, fees are quoted in Canadian dollars and are payable within thirty days of the invoice date. A sweep week, a harbor watch day or an AIS track session that is added to a running watch is charged at the rate set out in the engagement for an additional motion.
Where a watch is cancelled after the brief but before the first live round, the client pays for the brief and for any trial rounds that were run. Where a watch is cancelled after the first live round, the client pays for the rounds that were run and for the closing sheet.
An invoice that remains unpaid after the due date may attract interest at the rate set out in the engagement and, where no rate is set, at the rate allowed by law. The desk may suspend a watch while an invoice remains unpaid, and will give written notice before a suspension begins.
9. Watch records and ownership
The client owns the record produced for its watch. The desk keeps a copy as custodian so that it can answer a question about the watch and so that it can close the record correctly. The desk does not publish the record and does not release it to a third party without the agreement of the client, except under a lawful demand.
The methods of the desk, the layout of the plot, the form of the blip log and the wording of the closing note remain the property of the company. The client receives the record, not the method, and may not ask the desk to disclose the method beyond the description given at the brief.
Where the engagement ends, the desk keeps the record for the period set out in the engagement and by default for three years. The client may ask for the record in a readable form at any time during that period, and the desk will provide it without charge for the first copy.
10. Accuracy and limits of a watch
A watch records what the scope showed at a given hour. It does not see through weather, it does not resolve a contact that is below the strength of the return, and it does not replace a lookout on a vessel. Where the scope is unclear, the desk records the uncertainty rather than a guess.
The desk reads the scope carefully and keeps the plot honest, but it does not warrant that every contact in the water will be seen or that every observed contact will be identified. A watch is a record of observation, and an observation is limited by the instrument, the position and the conditions of the hour.
Where a client needs a confirmation of a particular vessel at a particular time, the client should ask for a track session rather than rely on an ordinary round. The desk will say plainly whether a request can be met within the limits of the instrument.
11. Safety and navigation
The watch is an intelligence service and not a navigation service. It does not direct a vessel, it does not issue orders to a crew, and it does not take the place of a master or a pilot. The master of a vessel remains responsible for the safe navigation of that vessel at all times.
The desk will pass a contact of interest to the client when the engagement says it should, and the client decides what to do with that information. The desk does not make a decision on behalf of the client and does not accept a duty to warn a third party.
In an emergency, contact the relevant rescue coordination centre or the emergency service of the country concerned. The watch desk is not an emergency service, and a message to the desk should never be used in place of an emergency call.
12. Confidentiality
Each party keeps the confidential information of the other party in confidence and uses it only for the watch. Confidential information includes the brief, the plot band, the record, the fees and any business information that is marked confidential or that a reasonable person would treat as confidential.
The duty of confidence does not cover information that is already public, that the receiving party already held without a duty, that is received from a third party without a duty, or that must be disclosed by law. Where a disclosure is required by law, the party that must disclose gives notice to the other party where the law permits.
The duty of confidence continues for three years after the engagement ends. Where the engagement sets a longer period for a particular item, that longer period applies to that item.
13. Privacy and personal information
The desk handles personal information in line with the privacy policy published on this website. The policy explains what is collected, why it is collected, how long it is kept and how a person can exercise a right. By engaging a watch you confirm that you have read the policy and that you will pass it to any person whose information you send to the desk.
Where a client sends information about a crew member or a harbor officer, the client is responsible for the lawful basis on which that information is sent. The desk uses the information only to run the watch and to close the record.
A request from a person to access, correct or delete information is handled by the desk under the privacy policy. Where the request concerns a record owned by a client, the desk will tell the client and will work with both parties to resolve the request.
14. Website content and intellectual property
The text, layout, graphics and code of the website belong to the company or are used with permission. The developer mIQMaritime maintains the code on behalf of the company. You may read, print and share a page for your own use, but you may not copy a page into another website or use the content to train a commercial system without written permission.
The name Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc. and the marks used on the website belong to the company. A reference to the company in a client report is permitted; a use of the name in a way that suggests an endorsement is not permitted without written agreement.
If you believe that content on the website infringes a right that you hold, write to the desk with the details and the desk will review the claim promptly.
15. Prohibited use
You must not use the website or the watch in a way that breaks the law, that interferes with another person, or that damages the desk. In particular you must not attempt to gain access to a system that you are not authorised to use, send a message that contains malicious code, or use the contact form to send bulk advertising.
You must not use the record to follow a person, to harass a person or to support an activity that is unlawful in Canada or in the country where the vessel operates. A watch is a professional record and it must not be turned into a tool for surveillance of a private individual.
Where the desk believes that the website or a watch is being used in a prohibited way, it may suspend the use, keep the relevant record and report the matter to the appropriate authority.
16. Third party services and links
The website may link to another website that the company does not control. A link is provided for convenience and is not an endorsement. The company is not responsible for the content or the practices of a linked website.
The watch may rely on a third party for a feed, a chart or a message route. Where a third party service fails or changes, the desk will record the gap in the watch and will tell the client what was lost. The desk is not responsible for a failure that lies outside its control, but it will take reasonable steps to restore the service.
A third party that sends information to the desk is responsible for the accuracy of that information. The desk records what it receives and marks an unverified item as unverified.
17. Disclaimer of warranties
The website is provided as it stands. The company does not warrant that the website will be free of a fault, that it will be available without interruption, or that every page will render in every browser. The desk keeps the website in good order and corrects a fault when it is found.
The watch is provided with reasonable skill and care. Beyond that, the company gives no other warranty, express or implied, including a warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Where the law does not allow a warranty to be excluded, the exclusion does not apply to that warranty.
No advice given by the desk in a conversation is a warranty unless it is repeated in a written engagement and signed by an authorised person of the company.
18. Limitation of liability
To the extent the law allows, the company is not liable for an indirect loss, a loss of profit, a loss of business, a loss of data or a loss that was not a reasonably foreseeable result of the act or omission complained of. This limit applies whether the claim is framed in contract, in tort or on another basis.
To the extent the law allows, the total liability of the company for a watch is limited to the fees paid for that watch in the twelve months before the event that gave rise to the claim. Where no fee has been paid, the total liability is limited to a reasonable amount that reflects the brief and the trial rounds that were run.
Nothing in these terms excludes a liability that cannot be excluded by law, including a liability for fraud or for a death or personal injury caused by negligence.
19. Indemnity
The client indemnifies the company against a claim, a loss or a cost that arises from the client giving the desk information that the client was not entitled to give, from the client using the record in a way that breaks the law, or from the client breaching the confidentiality section of these terms.
The company will tell the client promptly of a claim that may lead to an indemnity, will allow the client to take part in the defence where it is reasonable to do so, and will not settle the claim in a way that admits a fault of the client without the agreement of the client.
The indemnity does not apply to the extent that the claim is caused by the negligence or the wilful misconduct of the company.
20. Suspension and termination
Either party may end an engagement by giving written notice. Where the client ends a watch, the client pays for the rounds that were run and for the closing sheet. Where the company ends a watch, the company gives a reason and refunds any fee that was paid for a round that will not be run.
The company may suspend or end a watch at once where the client breaks the prohibited use section, where an invoice remains unpaid after written notice, or where continuing the watch would break the law. A suspension is confirmed in writing and records the reason.
When an engagement ends, the sections on confidentiality, records, privacy, intellectual property, liability and governing law continue to apply.
21. Events beyond control
Neither party is liable for a delay or a failure that is caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including a severe storm, a power failure, a failure of a public network or a decision of a public authority. The affected party tells the other party promptly and takes reasonable steps to reduce the effect of the event.
Where the event continues for more than thirty days, either party may end the engagement by written notice, and the client pays for the rounds that were run before the event began.
22. Changes to these terms
The company may change these terms when the watch changes, when a provider changes or when the law changes. The current version is always the one published on this page, and the date at the top of the page shows when it was last reviewed.
A change to these terms does not change an engagement that was agreed before the change took effect, unless the client agrees the change in writing. A change that reduces a protection for a client applies only to a new engagement or to a renewal that the client accepts.
Where a change is material, the desk will describe it plainly and will make the previous version available on request for a reasonable period.
23. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the law of the Province of Quebec and by the federal law of Canada that applies in Quebec. A dispute is first raised in writing between the parties, who will try in good faith to resolve it within thirty days of the written notice.
Where the dispute is not resolved by discussion, the parties agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of Quebec, sitting in the judicial district of Longueuil. Nothing in this section prevents a party from asking a court for an urgent order where that is necessary.
A client who is a consumer in a country with mandatory consumer protection rules keeps the benefit of those rules, and this section does not remove a right that such a client has under the law of that country.
24. General provisions
These terms, together with the engagement and the privacy policy, form the whole agreement between the parties. A statement made before the agreement is not part of it unless it is repeated in the engagement. A party does not waive a right by delaying the exercise of that right.
If a provision of these terms is found to be invalid, the rest of the terms continue in force and the invalid provision is read down to the minimum extent needed to make it valid. A party may not assign the agreement without the written agreement of the other party, except as part of a reorganization where the successor accepts these terms.
A notice is given in writing to the address of the other party, by email to the desk address or by a method that produces a record of delivery. The parties agree that an electronic notice is a valid notice for the purposes of this agreement.
25. How to contact us
For any question about these terms, write to the watch desk at the address below. The desk answers on behalf of both the company and the developer that maintains the website.
Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc.
103-3485 rue Edmond-Hardy
Longueuil - J4N 0J5
Canada (CA)
Email: shipping@miqmaritime.lol
Telephone: +12765761584
The website is maintained by the developer mIQMaritime under the direction of Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc. A message about the website and a message about a watch reach the same desk and are routed to the person who can answer.