CSSA Chartering and Shipping Services SA V Mitsui O.S.K Lines
Ltd - "Pacific Voyager"
In a welcome decision1 for charterers, the
Commercial Court has clarified an as-yet unresolved point of law
concerning the parameters of a shipowner's obligation to
proceed to the loadport with utmost despatch. Clyde & Co
represented the successful claimant charterers in this landmark
result.
The case of Monroe Brothers Limited v Ryan (1935) 2 KB
28 established that where a voyage charterparty contains an
obligation on an owner to proceed with all convenient speed to the
loading port, and gives a date when the vessel is expected to load,
there is an absolute obligation on the owner to commence the
approach voyage by a date when it is reasonably certain that the
vessel will arrive at the loading port, on or around the expected
readiness to load date (ERTL). The usual charterparty exceptions,
thus, only apply once the approach voyage is commenced, and cannot
avail an owner prior to
