Triton Navigation Ltd. v Vitol S.A., Court of Appeal - Commercial Court, January 23, 2003, [2003] EWHC 46 (Comm),[2003] 1 LLR 151,[2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep 151

Reporting Judge: [2003] EWHC 46 (Comm),[2003] 1 LLR 151,[2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep 151

President: Triton Navigation Ltd. v Vitol S.A.

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Extract

Triton Navigation Ltd. v Vitol S.A., Court of Appeal - Commercial Court, January 23, 2003, [2003] EWHC 46 (Comm),[2003] 1 LLR 151,[2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep 151

[2003] EWHC 46 (Comm) Case No: 2001 Folio 254

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION

COMMERCIAL COURT

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Date: 23rd January 2003

B e f o r e :

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE MOORE-BICK

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Miss Vasanti Selvaratnam Q.C. and Mr. Philip Riches

(instructed by Shaw-Lloyd & Co) for the claimant

Mr. Timothy Hill (instructed by Shaw & Croft) for the defendant

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JUDGMENT

I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version may be treated as authentic.

The Hon. Mr. Justice Moore-Bick

Mr Justice Moore-Bick:

On 2nd December 2000 the vessel Nikmary arrived at the Indian port of Sikka and gave notice of readiness to load a cargo of gasoil. She entered berth the following morning where her tanks were inspected by a surveyor from the local office of Intertek Testing Services Caleb Brett (``Caleb Brett'') on behalf of the charterers, Vitol S.A., and the shippers, Reliance Petroleum Ltd (``Reliance''). He rejected the vessel on the grounds that all her tanks contained residues of a previous cargo of vegetable oil and were therefore unfit to load gasoil. The vessel therefore shifted to the anchorage to carry out further cleaning. On 4th December the tanks were inspected for a second time by a surveyor from Caleb Brett accompanied by a surveyor from Admiralty Marine Services appointed by the vessel's agents, Interocean Shipping (India) Pvt. Ltd, to protect the owners' interests. They were again rejected as being unfit to load gasoil. The vessel's tanks were inspected for a third time on 5th December. This time the surveyors from Caleb Brett and Admiralty Marine Services were accompanied by a surveyor from Ericson & Richards (Gujarat) who had been appointed by the local representatives of the owners' P & I Club, James Macintosh & Co. Pvt Ltd. This time the vessel's tanks were passed fit for loading and the master gave notice of readiness at 19.30 hours that day.

From 5th December 2000 until 2nd January 2001 the vessel remained at the anchorage waiting for a cargo. Having entered berth at 1500 hours on 2nd January she completed loading a cargo of 27,886 metric tons of gasoil at 1925 hours on 3rd January and sailed for Thessalonika in the early hours of the following morning. On 17th January the vessel called at Limassol on the instructions of the charterers to enable the cargo to be treated with additives. She then proceeded to Thessalonik...

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