Judgment handed down in MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA & Ors v Interglobal Technologies Ltd & Ors [2025] EWHC 1464 (Comm)

Following judgment handed down on 1 May 2025, judgment has recently been published in MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA & Ors v Interglobal Technologies Ltd & Ors [2025] EWHC 1464 (Comm), in which the High Court upheld the Claimants’ application for an interim anti-suit injunction (“ASI”) and anti-anti-suit injunction (“AASI”) against proceedings in Nigeria and dismissed the Defendants’ cross-application for the ASI to be dismissed.

The judgment is of interest for its important clarifications on the rights and liabilities of consignees under sections 2 and 3 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (“COGSA”) 1992. In finding for the Claimants, Mr Justice Bryan was satisfied that a contract of carriage between the carrier and the consignee had arisen by operation of COGSA 1992, and that the rights and liabilities under that contract including the governing law and exclusive jurisdiction clause as agreed between the carrier and the shipper. The judgment also considered what will constitute sufficient notice for a carrier’s standard form terms, including any jurisdiction clause, to be incorporated into a bill of lading.

Edward Jones and Aphiwan Natasha King acted for the successful Claimants (instructed by Ian Chetwood, Jack Maxted, and Karina Horn of Wikborg Rein LLP).

For a full copy of the judgment, please see here.