Sinokor Merchant Marine Co Ltd v. The Owners and/or Demise
Charterers of the Ship or Vessel
"Marcatania" HCAJ 138/2008
In this case, the High Court of Hong Kong was asked to determine
whether the ship-owners were under any duty in bailment to complete
the original voyage and deliver cargo following withdrawal of the
vessel by the ship-owners part way through a voyage for non-payment
of hire. The court ruled that the ship-owners did not owe such an
obligation.
The background facts
The claimant shipped a number of containers (which the claimant
received from its customers) on the vessel Marcatania
pursuant to a vessel-sharing agreement with the time charterer of
the vessel. Due to the collapse of the shipping market in late
2008, the time charterer became insolvent and failed to pay charter
hire to the ship-owners....
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
In a judgment handed down on 2 May 2012, the UK Supreme Court has made a significant ruling on the rights of remuneration of the owners of a time-chartered ship after the ship has been lawfully withdrawn for non-payment of hire.
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In a judgment handed down on 27 April 2012, Mr Justice Cooke has held that, in circumstances where the time charterers were in repudiatory breach of charterparty in purporting to redeliver the vessel early, the owners were entitled to refuse early redelivery, affirm the charterparty and hold the charterers liable for hire for the balance of the minimum period of the charterparty.
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In common with many disputes that have gone to court or arbitration in the past three years, this one took place against the background of the financial crisis in late 2008 when the market for both charter rates and bunker prices dropped considerably.
It is clear that piracy is a serious threat to shipping across large parts of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, as pirate groups grow in strength, resources and expertise.
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