Full Judgment for Singapore Mainboard Listed Shipowner Subsidiary

The Firm has obtained full judgment for the subsidiary of a Singapore mainboard listed shipowner in one of the first cases to be heard in the Singapore International Commercial Court

The firm acted for a subsidiary of a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange providing marine logistics and offshore support services, which was involved in a dispute with a US-based defendant company.

The dispute related to the provision of marine logistics services, and involved cross-claims amounting to over USD 40 million. The case was brought before the newly established Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and was one of the first three cases to be heard by the SICC.

The case was fixed for a three-week trial before the Honourable Justice Sir Bernard Eder (an SICC International judge and former judge of the High Court of England and Wales).

In deciding a preliminary issue, the Court provided guidance as to when a dispute would constitute an “offshore case” under the Singapore Rules of Court. This was of particular importance as it shed light on when parties could appoint foreign counsel. The Court deemed this dispute to be an offshore case and this paved the way for the defendant to appoint US counsel, thereby being the first SICC case in Singapore involving foreign counsel.

At the conclusion of the trial, our client successfully obtained judgment for its full claim of USD27 million. The defendant withdrew its counterclaim during the course of the trial.  The case received media attention from the Straits Times, Singapore’s daily broadsheet newspaper.

Reported decisions for this case:

• Teras Cargo Offshore Pte Ltd v Teras Cargo Transport (America) LLC [2017] SGHC(I) 04
• Teras Offshore Pte Ltd v Teras Cargo Transport (America) LLC [2016] SGHC (I) 02

Reported sources for this case:

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/1st-foreign-lawyer-in-international-dispute-court-here-loses-case 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/58m-spat-is-offshore-case-rules-commercial-court-here