Z I Pompey Industrie and Ors v ECU-Line NV and Ors (The ‘Canmar Fortune’) - Federal Ct (Trial Div)(Hargrave P) - 22 September 1999

Conflict of laws - Application for stay on basis of exclusive jurisdiction clause in bill of lading - Whether contract contained in bill of lading discharged by doctrine of fundamental breach or deviation

The plaintiff cargo interests brought proceedings for damages to a photo-processor carried from Antwerp to Seattle. The defendants applied for a stay on the basis of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of Antwerp on the face of a port-to-port bill of lading on an ECU-Line form issued at Lyon by ECU-Line France, a division of ECU-Line NV of Antwerp.