More trouble with bunkers

Two recent cases on bunker supplies shed further light on the legal situation surrounding supplies. In both cases, a string of contracts and the use of middlemen had caused there to be confusion as to who was liable when the piggy-in-the-middle failed to fulfill its obligations.

In the first, Newocean Petroleum Co Ltd v OW Bunker China Ltd [2016] HKCFI 492, a Hong Kong case, Deputy High Court Judge Le Pichon declined on 18 March 2016 to follow the decisions in PST Energy 7 Shipping LLC v OW Bunker Malta Ltd (The Res Cogitans) at first instance and the Court of Appeal ([2015] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 563, Males J; [2016] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 228, CA).