NAUTICA MARINE LTD V TRAFIGURA TRADING LLC

[2020] EWHC 1986 (Comm), Commercial Court, Queen’s Bench Division, Mr Justice Foxton, 28 July 2020

Contract – Formation – Terms – Whether parties had entered into voyage charterparty – Subject to oil suppliers’ approvals – Whether pre-condition or performance condition

The claimant owner of the vessel Leonidas and the defendant had between 8 and 13 January 2016 conducted negotiations for a voyage charter for the purpose of the carriage of crude oil from the Caribbean to the Far East. The dispute concerned whether a charterparty had been concluded as a result of those negotiations, in particular the effect of an outstanding “subject” of the negotiations, “Suppliers' Approval” of the vessel.