Babanaft International Company S.A. v. Avanti Petroleum Inc. (The Oltenia) - Q.B.D. (Com.Ct.) (Bingham J.) - 20 January 1982

Section 27 Arbitration Act 1950 inapplicable to charterparty time bar clause

The claimant owners chartered their vessel Oltenia to the respondent charterers on an Asbatankvoy form for the carriage of a part cargo of gas-oil from one safe port in the Soviet Black Sea to one or two safe ports in the European Mediterranean. The charterparty contained a London arbitration clause. A dispute arose in which the owners claimed inter alia for damages for the vessel’s detention at the discharging port of Algeciras. The present issue was whether this claim was time-barred under the express terms of the charterparty.