Pusan Newport Co Ltd v The owners and/or demise charterers of the ships or vessels “Milano Bridge” and “CMA CGM Musca” and “CMA CGM Hydra” – Hong Kong SAR Court of Appeal (G Lam and Chow JJA) [2022] HKCA 157 – 18 February 2022

Conflict of laws – Forum non conveniens – Allision between vessel and berth at South Korean maritime terminal – Terminal operator bringing Admiralty Action against sister ship in Hong Kong – Vessel owners bringing cross action and limitation proceedings in South Korea – Whether Hong Kong action should be stayed – Relevance of forum shopping.

The plaintiff was the Korean operator of a commercial maritime terminal at the port of Busan, South Korea (the terminal). The defendants were the owners of the vessel Milano Bridge, owned as to 90 per cent by a Japanese company and 10 per cent by a Panamanian company. The vessel was registered in Panama and flew the Panamanian flag. At the material times, the vessel was sub-chartered to a Singaporean company.