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'''English Court of Appeal (Civil Division); Floyd and Christopher Clarke LJJ, Sir Stanley Burnton; [2014] EWCA Civ 713; 5 June 2014'''
'''SHIPPING: TANKER TRANSHIPMENT: SHIP-TO-SHIP (“STS”) TRANSFERS: CHARTERPARTY PROVIDING FOR STS TRANSFERS TO BE SUBJECT TO OWNERS’ APPROVAL WHICH NOT TO BE UNREASONABLY WITHHELD: OWNERS WITHHOLD CONSENT FOR A STS TRANSFER BETWEEN TWOVLCCs: WHETHER OWNERS’ WITHHOLDING OF APPROVAL REASONABLE'''
Mr C Hancock QC and Miss S Tresman (instructed by Ince & Co) for the Appellant Owners
'''Judgment'''
- The Legal Test
In determining whether or not Owners acted reasonably in refusing to approve the Frontline vessels as transfer vessels for discharge of the Cargo, it was for Charterers to prove that Owners had acted unreasonably. In order to entitle them to withhold approval, it was not necessary that Owners' conduct was correct or their conclusions right. They would only be in breach if no reasonable shipowner could have regarded their concerns as sufficient reason to decline approval. This is an objective test [Fn 1].
- Application of the Legal Test
On the facts, the Court of Appeal considered which factors could (or could not) constitute sufficient reason to decline approval.
