Astro Vencedor Compania Naviera SA v Mabanaft GmbH: CA 1971

For an arbitration clause in a contract between parties to be used to enforce arbitration of a tortious claim, the tortious claim must arise out of the contractual matters. In this case damages were sought for the wrongful arrest of a ship in consequence of an alleged breach of the contract.
Lord Denning MR said: ‘The arrest of the ship was the direct consequence of the charterers’ claim for damages against the shipowners. . The arrest was simply the follow-up to that claim. It was so closely connected with it that the rightness or wrongness of the arrest is also within the scope of the arbitration. This is borne out by the practice of the Admiralty Court. There have not been many claims for wrongful arrest recently. But the practice of the Court of Admiralty is to deal with a claim for wrongful arrest at the same time as the claim for which the arrest was made. In The Evangelismos . . the Privy Council said that such procedure is very ‘convenient’.’

Judges:

Lord Denning MR

Citations:

[1971] Lloyd’s R 502, [1971] 2 QB 588

Cited by:

CitedS Ltd v C Ltd ComC 27-Feb-2009
Defamation allegation not subject to arbitration
The parties had an agreement referring disputes between them to arbitration. One party raised an allegation of defamation, but the arbitrator refused jurisdiction. The parties had chosen the London Metal Exchange for its expertise in metals trading, . .
CitedAspect Contracts (Asbetos) Ltd v Higgins Construction Plc SC 17-Jun-2015
Aspect had claimed the return of funds paid by it to the appellant Higgins under an adjudication award in a construction contract disute. The claimant had been asked to prpare asbestos surveys and reports on maisonettes which Higgins was to acquire . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Arbitration, Transport

Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.375637