In the recent case of D'Amico Shipping Italia SPA v Endofa
DMCC & Anor (2016), the Commercial Court looked at the issue of
when freight is payable as a debt.
The case involved an application by the vessel owner for summary
judgment that a balance of freight was due and owing from the
voyage charterer. For the charterer successfully to defend the
application, they would have to show that:
- freight was not recoverable as a
debt; and
- instead, that the charterer's
failure to give instructions to discharge was a breach of the
charterparty which prevented freight becoming due to the
owner.
Whether the charterer owed a debt or was liable in damages was
important because the issue of mitigation is relevant to a claim in
damages but not to a claim in debt. If the claim was in damages,
there would be a triable issue on whether the owner failed to
mitigate its loss and summary judgment would be inappropriate.
