LD Commodities Rice Merchandising LLC and Another v The owners and/or Demise Charterers of the Vessel "Styliani Z" - QBD (Admlty Ct) (Teare J) [2015] EWHC 3060 (Admlty) - 28 October 2015

Admiralty practice - Cargo claim - Claimants' solicitor intending to issue in rem claim form but mistakenly using form for in personam claim - Claimants failing to serve claim form within four-month period - Claimants amending claim form to read as if it were an in rem claim - Whether claim time-barred - Whether claimants entitled to order remedying "error of procedure" - CPR 3.10

The claimant cargo interests claimed damages of US$1.3 million in respect of wet damage caused to a cargo of 3,000 mt of rice as it was being loaded on board the defendants’ vessel Styliani Z at Lake Charles in August 2012. By a letter of undertaking dated 20 September 2012 the defendants’ P&I Club (the Club) provided security in respect of the claim.