Nanjing Tianshun Shipbuilding Co Ltd and Jiangsu Skyrun International Group Co Ltd v Orchard Tankers PTE Ltd [2011] EWHC 164 (Comm)

Shipbuilding Contract – Dispute resolution – Shipbuilder’s failure to institute arbitration proceedings timeously – Time bar

The facts

Under a shipbuilding contract dated 8 November 2006 between the claimants, (i) Nanjing Tianshun Shipbuilding Co Ltd and (ii) Jiangsu Skyrun International Group Co Ltd as sellers (the ‘sellers’) and the respondent, Orchard Tankers Pte Ltd as buyers (the ‘buyers’), the sellers agreed to sell and the buyers agreed to buy a vessel with hull number TS 0609 (the ‘vessel’). The shipbuilding contract was in conventional form, including, inter alia, the following provisions: