Internaut Shipping GmbH and anr v Fercometal SARL (The "Elikon") -Court of Appeal (Mummery, Sedley and Rix LJJ) - 17 June 2003

Arbitration relating to demurrage dispute commenced by solicitors on behalf of "owner" under voyage charterparty without identifying such owner - Points of claim naming a company ("Company A") as "Claimants (Owners)" - Points of defence admitting that Company A was owner - Claimant’s solicitors subsequently asserting that another company ("Company B") was in fact the owner and that references to Company A had been a "mere misnomer" - Whether Company A or Company B was the "owner" under the charterparty - Whether Company A or Company B was party to the arbitration - Whether arbitration valid

The vessel Elikon was chartered on a Gencon form. The charterer was Fercometal. Box 3 in Part I stated that the owners were "Sphinx Navigation Ltd, Liberia c/o Internaut Shipping Gmbh". Clause 1 of Part II stated that "It is agreed between the party mentioned in Box 3 as Owners of the ... vessel named in Box 5 ... and the party mentioned as Charterers in Box 4 that ...". However, the charterparty had been signed by Internaut under the heading "Owners" without qualification.