MINERVA NAVIGATION INC V OCEANA SHIPPING AG; OCEANA SHIPPING AG V TRANSATLANTICA COMMODITIES SA (THE "M/V ATHENA")

[2013] EWCA Civ 1723, Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Tomlinson, Lord Justice Lewison and Lord Justice Underhill, 23 October 2013

Charterparty (time) - Off-hire - Vessel adrift - Vessel not efficient for the services immediately required - Whether off-hire clause also required charterers to show net loss of time - Meaning of expressions "the loss of time", "the time thereby lost", "the time so lost" - NYPE clause 15

This concerned a chain of materially identical charterparties in respect of M/V Athena on the NYPE form, English law and London arbitration. The claims were for hire under the charterparties in respect of a period when she was adrift and not complying with orders. The service immediately required of the vessel during the period when full working of the vessel was prevented had been to proceed to the port of Benghazi. Instead of complying with charterers' orders, the master stopped and drifted in international waters outside Libya for 10.9416 days. Had the vessel proceeded to Benghazi, she would have berthed no earlier than she did. On the off-hire clause in the charterparty had been typed the words "default of the Master". Following arbitration, leave to appeal had been granted on one question only: whether under clause 15 of the NYPE charterparty the vessel was off-hire for a particular period merely because the vessel was not efficient for the services required during that period, or whether the charterers had to further show a net loss of time resulting thereby. The judge allowed the disponent owners' appeal of the award, holding that clause 15 permitted charterers to deduct time for the duration of the off-hire event, but only to the extent that there was a net loss of time.