Bills of lading

AP Moller-Maersk A/S v Sonaec Villas Cen Sad Fadoul [2010] EWHC 355 (Comm)

Shipping - Jurisdiction - Bills of lading - Shipper’s rights under bill of lading issued in respect of goods sold FOB

The facts

The claimant shipping line, Maersk, had issued a bill of lading to High Goal Logistics GD Ltd (‘HG’) for a consignment of tiles shipped from China. HG was the booking agent for the shipper, who was named in the bill of lading as B&D Co Ltd. B&D Co Ltd was acting ‘ pour compte de’ both the seller, Yekalon, and the defendant buyer, Vernal Investment (‘Vernal’). The latter was a subsidiary or associate company of Sonaec, the defendant. Yekalon had sold the tiles FOB subject to Incoterms 2000 to Sonaec, who were property developers in Benin. Yekalon did not get paid and obtained a court order from the court in China against HG for delivery up of the bill of lading. Once it had obtained the bill of lading, it requested that Maersk replace it, first by a second then by a third bill of lading, pursuant to which Maersk delivered the goods to a new consignee in Honduras.