London Arbitration 5/25

Contract for construction of a luxury yacht - Joint venture - Whether the yard repudiated the contract - Whether loans by the buyer to the yard formed part of the purchase price - Whether the yard's inability to arrange self-supporting finance was a force majeure event entitling the buyer to delay payment of instalments - Whether the buyer was entitled to transfer of title - Whether the yard was entitled to terminate for the buyer's default

The arbitration arose under a contract for the construction of a luxury yacht. The parties, the buyer and the yard effectively had a joint venture, the object of which was to sell the yacht on to a third party following its construction. The terms of the joint venture were originally set out in a Joint Activity Agreement ("JAA") made between the same parties.