ING Bank NV, Singapore Branch v The Demise Charterer of the Ship or Vessel “Navig8 Ametrine” [2022] SGHCR 5 (Justin Yeo AR) – 8 April 2022

Contracts (bills of lading) – Delivery of cargo against presentation of bills of lading – Lawful holder of bill of lading – Bank mistakenly endorsing bills to third party – Singapore Bills of Lading Act – UK Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992

The claimant Bank, the Singapore branch of a Netherlands bank, carried on the business of trade financing. The Bank had granted a customer, HLT, credit facilities of up to US$140 million to finance HLT’s trading activities under the HLT Financing Documents. The Facility Letter issued by the Bank stated that loans were to be secured by a pledge of documents of title and transportation documents representing or relating to any goods financed by the Facility.