The Commercial Court was recently asked to consider a dispute in which competing parties claimed to be owners of the same goods. I represented the innocent unpaid seller. The case is a timely reminder of the ever present risk of fraud faced by owners and charterers and their insurers as well as by traders and their banks engaged in international trade.
In Transpacific Eternity SA -v- Kanematsu Corporation and another [2002] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 233 the owners of the Antares III sought interpleader relief because they faced rival claims by parties holding different bills of lading in respect of the same part cargo on board their vessel.
Vinsari Fruitech Limited, the second defendant, sold 4,500 mt of Indian yellow toasted soyabean extraction meal and flake to Silijan Pte Limited on FAS (free alongside) Bedi terms. The sale was on FOSFA terms and the contract was silent as to when property passed. Silijan in turn sold the goods on to Kanematsu Corporation, the first defendant. Payment in
