London Arbitration 22/00

Arbitration - Jurisdiction - Whether arbitration provision in charterparty incorporated in bill of lading containing general words of incorporation only

The claimant cargo owners commenced arbitration proceedings against the respondent shipowners in respect of alleged cargo damage. The shipowners said that the claim was not subject to London arbitration, there being no agreement to refer disputes to arbitration. Their reason was that “the bills of lading do not contain an arbitration clause and while they incorporate the ‘terms conditions liberties and exceptions’ of the charterparty this is not sufficient to incorporate the arbitration clause”. The arbitrators accordingly considered, as a preliminary point, whether they had jurisdiction to determine the dispute.