Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co Ltd v Jan De Nul NV and Anr - Court of Appeal (Laws, Longmore and Etherton LJJ) - 21 July 2011

(2011) 830 LMLN 1

Contract - Advance Payment Guarantee - Guarantors guaranteeing return of advance payments to buyers in event of termination of shipbuilding contracts - Builder transferring shipbuilding contracts without knowledge or consent of buyers - Whether guarantees remained effective after transfer of shipbuilding contracts - Practice - Parties not to seek to make fresh points by correspondence after conclusion of hearing

The defendants (“the buyers”) were the buyers of dredgers being built by a Korean shipyard (“HWS”) and became obliged to make advance payments of the purchase price of the vessels. The buyers had secured Advance Payment Guarantees (“the APGs”) from the claimant insurers (“Meritz”) that in the event of premature termination for any of the reasons set out in clause 17 of the contracts, such advance payments would be returned with interest.