CVLC THREE CARRIER CORP AND ANOTHER V ARAB MARITIME PETROLEUM TRANSPORT CO

[2021] EWHC 551 (Comm), Queen’s Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mrs Justice Cockerill, 11 March 2021

Arbitration – Appeal against award for error of law – Challenge to the basis of the grant of permission to appeal – Guarantee – Existence of implied term in guarantee that creditor would not arrest guarantor’s assets - Arbitration Act 1996, section 69

In March 2019 the owners bareboat chartered two vessels to charterers. The obligations of the charterers were the subject of two guarantees issued by guarantors. All of the contracts contained arbitration clauses. The charterers allegedly defaulted on their obligations, and the owners commenced arbitration under the guarantees. They also obtained an order from the Provincial Court of Luanda, Angola for the arrest of the guarantors' own vessel. Shortly afterwards, the arbitrator issued an award and a supplementary award declaring that it was an implied term of the guarantees that the owners would not seek additional security in respect of the matters covered by the guarantees. No evidence as to the factual matrix was presented. The owners sought permission to appeal, which was granted by Cockerill J although she reformulated the point of law raised by the application.