D'Amico Dry Ltd v Primera Maritime (Hellas) Ltd - US District Court (SDNY) (Koeltl DJ) - 26 March 2011

(2011) 821 LMLN 4

Admiralty jurisdiction - Enforcement of foreign judgment - Plaintiff seeking to enforce English Commercial Court Judgment in US Federal Court - Whether court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction

D’Amico was a charterer of “Panamax” dry bulk cargo vessels. D’Amico sometimes entered into Forward Freight Agreements (“FFAs”) to hedge its chartering business, and on 2 September 2008 the parties entered into an agreement whereby D’Amico agreed to sell, and Primera agreed to buy, an FFA dependent upon the monthly average of the of the Baltic Panamax Index (“BPI”) of freight rates published by the Baltic Exchange in London for “4 Panamax TC Routes.” Under the FFA, whether D’Amico owed money to Primera, or vice versa, would depend on the difference between the “contract rate” of $55,750 per day and the “settlement rate,” which was determined by the BPI rate. At the end of each month, if the contract rate exceeded the settlement rate, Primera was to pay D’Amico the difference between the prices, multiplied by the number of contract days for each month; if the contract rate was less than the settlement rate, D’Amico was to pay Primera the difference.