(1) GOLDEN FLEECE MARITIME INC (2) PONTIAN SHIPPING SA V ST SHIPPING & TRANSPORT INC

[2007] EWHC 1890 (Comm), QBD Comm, Cooke J, 2 August 2007

Shipping – Charterparties – Time charter - Shelltime 4 – Oil tankers – Whether commercial risk of a change in international regulations, the effect of which was to restrict the cargoes that the chartered vessels could carry, should be borne by owners or charterers

A change in MARPOL Regulation 13(H) in the course of the charterparty would, if it had occurred before delivery, have rendered the vessel legally unfit for service and should, on a true construction of the charterparty, be borne by the owners.