1 Introduction

The decisions in Glencore International AG v MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co SA (The Eugenia),2 both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, have attracted sustained interest from academics and practitioners alike.3 Whilst in many ways the decision turned on a handful of particular and relatively peculiar facts, the interest, no doubt, derives in large part from the decisions’ wider implications. The judgments provide a microcosm for a wider conflict at the sharp end of English maritime law and practice; that between established legal doctrine and burgeoning technical development; the merits of certainty and the need for progress; tradition and modernity.