Owners of a Vessel chartered on the Vegilvoy form to carry a cargo to a North African port, obtained an urgent Arbitration Award after waiting off such a port, as instructed, cargo sale arrangements having foundered. On the basis of Vessel operational issues (sludge tanks full, Class certificates imminent expiry, shortages of fresh water and provisions, and loss of forward fixtures) the Tribunal ruled (based on the Vegilvoy “Liberty Clause”) that Owners could instead discharge at such safe port (including in another country) as they chose, with cargo remaining in their possession pending delivery to persons entitled, Charterers being liable for all loss, damage and expense caused to Owners by reason of their failure to take delivery.

The Buyer terminated a Norwegian Saleform 2012 MOA under clause 14(a) because the Seller was not ready to deliver the vessel by the cancelling date. It was held that the Buyer could recover loss of bargain damages under clause 14(b), provided that the Seller’s lack of readiness was caused by proven negligence. The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court dismissed the Sellers’ appeal and confirmed that the reference to the Buyer’s “loss” in clause 14(b) is broad enough to include loss of bargain damages, even where the Seller’s failure to deliver does not amount to a repudiatory breach.

Read the full judgement here.

The Claimant scrap metal trader claimed against the Defendant insurers under its FDD and Charterers’ Risk insurance, following a liability to the owners of a chartered ship consequent on a cargo fire in 2022. The Court upheld the Defendant insurers’ case that failure to disclose 5 previous cargo fires (not giving rise to claims) in the more recent years of the parties’ 14 year relationship, constituted a breach of its Insurance Act duty of fair presentation, entitling the Defendants to avoid the policy.

Read the full judgement here.

The Vyssos, trading in Ukrainian waters, struck a mine and became a CTL. The owners’ war risk insurance did not respond, due to breach of trading warranties. The Court upheld the rulings that the same breach by owners constituted an insured peril under Oceanus’ (mortgagees) MII policy; the loss was fortuitous (Oceanus’ consent having been induced by a forged AWR cover note), and they were able to recover under their MII policy.

Read the full judgement here.

The Court held that insurers were entitled to rely on a war risks exclusion to reject claims for damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines following the 2022 Baltic Sea explosions. Although there were competing plausible theories as to who carried out the sabotage, the Court found that it was unnecessary to determine the perpetrators. On either version of events, the damage was directly or indirectly caused by, or occurred in consequence of, the Russia–Ukraine war and therefore fell within the exclusion.

Read the full judgement here.

The Commercial Court dismissed an appeal, thereby upholding an arbitration award, arising from Owners' failure to provide a vessel within the agreed laycan under a contract of affreightment (COA). The Court held that each shipment under the COA constituted a separate and severable contractual obligation, such that a subsequent shipment did not cure the earlier breach. Charterers were therefore entitled to recover the orthodox contract/market measure of damages reflecting the cost of fixing substitute tonnage.

Read the full judgement here.