MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co SA v Cottonex Anstalt – QBD (Comm Ct) (Leggatt J) [2015] EWHC 283 (Comm) – 12 February 2015

Carriage of goods by sea – Container demurrage – Consignee not collecting containerised goods from discharge port – Containers remaining at discharge port more than three years after discharge – Carrier claiming container demurrage from shipper – Whether carrier required to nominate place for redelivery – Whether carrier under duty to mitigate – Whether carrier had legitimate interest in keeping contracts of carriage in force after unaccepted repudiatory breach by shipper

The claimant carrier contracted with the defendant shipper to carry a total of 35 containers of raw cotton by sea from ports in the Middle East to Chittagong in Bangladesh.