In Singapore, a decision relating to the various parties'
competing interests was given by the former Attorney General, Mr
Justice Steven Chong, in July 2015. The decision considered whether
"interpleader relief" was available to Charterers. If
granted, interpleader relief would mean that the charterers who
ordered the bunkers, would be allowed to pay the disputed sum into
court, and then walk away and allow the other parties to argue over
who should receive it.
In order for interpleader relief to be available to the
charterers, the relevant parties, i.e. the physical and contractual
suppliers (including the Singaporean OW Bunkers entities), had to
prove that they had competing "adverse" claims. In
order for the claims to be "adverse", both parties had to
establish that it had a prima facie claim to the payment of the
bunkers.
