Some questions of law remain for a long time undecided by higher authority, despite their importance. For example:
- If, under a voyage charter:
- a charterer breaches its obligation to complete the discharge of cargo within the agreed laytime,
- the charterer commits no further breach, but
- the charterer's breach causes the shipowner loss and damage in addition to the detention of the ship,
- Then, can the shipowner recover damages for the additional loss over and above the amount stipulated in the contract as demurrage?
In
K Line Pte Ltd v Priminds Shipping (HK) Co Ltd (Eternal Bliss), the High Court
[1] (Andrew Baker J) held that such additional loss was recoverable. The Court of Appeal reversed this decision, in a judgment
[2] handed down on 18 November 2021, holding that demurrage is "liquidated damages for all the consequences of the charterer's failure to load or unload within the laytime."
[3]
You can read the full post on our Commercial, Construction & International Arbitration Blog here.