Monterosso Shipping Co. Ltd. v. ITF (The Rosso) - Court of Appeal (Lord Denning, M.R. and May L.J.) - 28 May 1982

ITF Special Agreement - Proper law - Effect of Section 18(1) of Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974

The vessel Rosso was registered in Malta and managed by a Norwegian firm. She was manned by Norwegian officers, but with Spanish crews. The Spanish crews were members of a Spanish seamen’s union called Union General de Trabajadores (UGT) which was affiliated to the ITF. The UGT had entered into an agreement with various shipowners regulating the terms and conditions on which Spanish crews were to be engaged on their vessels. This was called the Marco Agreement and was signed by Mr Aguirre, a UGT official acting as inspector for ITF. The ITF accepted that agreement and in November 1979 agreed to give the Rosso a “blue certificate” to cover its trading all over the world. (A “blue certificate” frees a vessel from being “blacked”.) This was done by a “Special Agreement” on a printed form issued by ITF in London but executed in Spain.