Great Beluga Shipping Inc v Bayoil Inc (The “Energy Explorer”) - Before Alfred E Yudes Jr, Jack Berg and Lloyd C Nelson - 21 December 1993

Gulf war preventing vessel from loading at nominated loadport - Whether charterparty frustrated

The vessel Energy Explorer was at Loop discharging an Iraqi crude cargo for the charterers (a United States corporation) when she was fixed for a further voyage by the charterers. No specific loadport was designated although the fixture telex specified the Saudi Arabian port of Yanbu as the intended port if loading took place in the Red Sea. The loading ports designation in the fixture telex provided for “load 1/2 SP Red Sea intention Yanbu or 1/2 SP Arabian Gulf”. The cargo was described as a no heat crude, 370,000 mt, plus or minus 5% with a maximum of two grades. The cargo origin was not specified.