THE “CARAKA JAYA NIAGA III-11”

[2021] SGHC 43, General Division of the High Court, Singapore, S Mohan JC, 22 February 2021

Admiralty and Shipping – Collision – Counterclaim – Time-bar – Single liability principle

Where mutual liabilities resulting from a collision were to be set off following apportionment, making one party a net payor, could that party deduct the amount of its own claim against the other party where that claim was time-barred? The plaintiffs were the registered owner and demise charterer of Grand Ace 12, which had been in a collision with the defendant’s vessel Caraka Jaya Niagra III-11. Their claim was issued just before the time bar expired. Although the defendant later sought to pursue its claim by a writ and by a counterclaim, those efforts were unsuccessful and it had become time barred. Apportionment of liability was agreed between the parties, as a result of which the defendant became the net payor. The defendant now relied on the single liability principle in The Khedive [1882] 7 App Cas 795 to assert that the fact that its counterclaim was time barred was irrelevant.