Astra Oil Co Inc v Rover Navigation Ltd (The "Emerald") - US Court of Appeals (2nd Cir) (Jacobs and Sotomayor Ct JJ) - 22 September 2003

Arbitration - Non-signatory to charterparty containing New York arbitration clause seeking to rely on arbitration clause to enforce claims arising out of late delivery of cargo - Whether non-signatory's claims were "intertwined" with the charterparty

On 10 November 2000 Rover Navigation Ltd ("Rover") chartered its vessel Emerald to AOT Trading AG ("AOT") for the carriage of a cargo of gasoil for AOT from Taiwan to the United States. The charterparty contained a New York arbitration clause. AOT and Astra Oil Co Inc ("Astra") were affiliated companies engaged in the business of international arbitrage merchant oil trading. Both were owned by Astra Oil Trading NV of the Netherlands. On 13 November 2000 Astra entered into a sales contract with Sprague Energy Corporation ("Sprague") in which Sprague agreed to purchase a certain quantity of gasoil from Astra. The sale contract contained a clause providing that the gasoil would be delivered between 25 December 2000 and 5 January 2001.