Jiangsu Guoxin Corp v Precious Shipping Public Co Ltd

A noteworthy judgment considering (1) the prevention principle, and (2) notice requirements for extensions of time under amended SAJ form shipbuilding contracts was handed down by Butcher J on 30 April 2020.

4 Pump Court’s Andrew Stevens and Gideon Shirazi acted for the shipyard in these s.69 appeals, arising out of a series of substantial multivessel shipbuilding arbitrations, against Roderick Cordara QC and Adam Board appearing for the buyer.

Construction and shipbuilding practitioners will note five key aspects of the decision set out in a note which can be found here.

Of general note to yards and shipbuilding practitioners, some of Butcher J’s findings differ from findings of Leggatt J (as he then was) on similarly worded SAJ form provisions in Zhoushan Jinhaiwan Shipyard Co Ltd v Golden Exquisite [2015] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 283.

The case turns on the particular wording of the relevant amended SAJ contracts.