Two obligations in a charterparty which had not been fulfilled, namely the obligation to nominate a vessel, to be the subject matter thereof, and the obligation to provide it.
Held: The former was the principal obligation. Lord Goff said: ‘Nomination of a vessel under such a contract is not a mere naming of a vessel; it is rather the identification of the subject matter of the contract, with the effect that the name of the vessel, once nominated, becomes written into the contract . . nomination of the vessel triggers certain other obligations under the contract, notably in the present case obligations on the plaintiffs to keep the defendants and their agents fully informed of the position of the vessel so nominated, and to give advance notice of her arrival on each of the five days preceding her arrival at the loading port . . Furthermore under such a charter, I do not see how, until there has been a nomination, there can be any duty to cause any particular vessel to proceed to the loading port . . I do not reach this conclusion on the ground that the performance of the obligation to nominate precedes in point of time the performance of the obligation to provide the vessel. I do so because the obligation to nominate it is for the reasons I have given a more fundamental obligation.’
As to jurisdiction, English courts had jurisdiction to hear a claim because under the charterparty contract, the place of performance of the ship and tonnage nomination was deemed to be in London. Accordingly the Belgian company could be sued in England for damages.
Lord Goff of Chievely
Gazette 15-Jan-1992, [1992] 1 All ER 161, [1992] 1 WLR 15, [1992] 1 Lloyds Rep 229
Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 3(1) Sched 1 Art 5(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Hassan Shenavai v Klaus Kreischer ECJ 15-Jan-1987
ECJ Whereas in the case of an action based on an obligation under a contract of employment or another contract with the same particularities for work other than on a self-employed basis the relevant obligation . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 August 2021; Ref: scu.90063
