Changes

Mr Charles Priday, instructed by Win'er Winter Scott LLP, for the Claimant charterers

'''The Commercial Court held that while the usual measure of damages for the premature wrongful termination of a time charterparty was the difference between the contract rate and the market rate for the balance of the charter period at the time of termination, this rule did not and could not apply in cases where there was no available market at the time of termination. In such cases, damages should be assessed on the basis of actual losses suffered by the innocent party, subject to the usual rules on mitigation of losses. The revival of an available market at a later stage would not in itself provide a correct measure of damages. It was only a factor to be taken into account in the assessment, and might be relevant to the question of mitigation.'''