Introduction
Does a charterer's failure to pay an instalment of hire
punctually under a standard form time charterparty constitute a
breach of condition allowing the shipowner to withdraw the vessel
and claim damages for breach of contract, or does such a failure
merely entitle the shipowner to withdraw the vessel from service in
accordance with the express provisions of the charterparty? This
was the dominant question before the England and Wales Court of
Appeal in Grand China Logistics Holding (Group) Co Ltd v Spar
Shipping AS [2016] EWCA Civ 982.
The case was on appeal from the Commercial Court, a sub-division
of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. In
the lower court, Popplewell J decided not to follow the decision of
Flaux J in Kuwait Rocks Co v AMN Bulkcarriers Inc ("The
Astra") [2013] EWHC 865 (Comm), wherein it was held that
payment of hire by charterers was not a condition of the
charterparty. The Court of Appeal, in essence therefore,
