The clause disputed by the parties provided: ‘If hire not received when due, Owners to give Charterers 48 hours notice in order to rectify the cause for such delay before exercising their [withdrawal] rights . .’ The owners withdrew the vessel after enquiring about whether hire had been paid, but without any prior warning. Application was made for leave to appeal.
Held: Lord Denning MR said: ‘These clauses vary in detail, but for the most part they provide that, before giving a withdrawal notice, the owners must give 48 hours notice. The reason is obvious. It is to give the charterers an opportunity of remedying their breach before they are exposed to forfeiture of their charter. It is comparable to the statutory notice which a landlord has to give to a tenant before enforcing a forfeiture clause.
The word ‘final’ means just that.
Judges:
Lord Denning MR
Citations:
[1982] 1 WLR 158
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Contract, Transport
Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.459944