The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for a valid arbitration agreement and the necessity of proving the existence of a foreign award for the enforcement of a foreign Award under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996.

“Although charter party sounds like an afternoon of fun in a rented boat, it is actually a very dry document filled with an ocean of fine print.”

-James E. Clapp Random House Webster’s Dictionary of the Law(2000), 79.

1. This petition under Sections 44 and 46 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘Act’) involves an exercise of trying to find an arbitration agreement in the “ocean” of fine print in the Charter Party in question. This petition by Marina World Shipping Corporation Limited (‘Marina’) seeks to enforce a foreign Award dated 26th September 2000 whereby the Respondent Jindal Exports Private Limited (‘Jindal’) was directed to pay Marina US Dollar (‘USD’) 47,506.42 as demurrage earned by Marina under the terms of the Charter Party (‘C/P’) dated 5th November 1994 together with interest at 7% per annum or pro rata thereof from 31st April 1995 until payment. Jindal was also directed to pay the costs of arbitration of GBP 2,250 together with interest at 8.5% per annum from the date of the Award till date of payment.

2. Marina states that by a telex dated 5th November 1994 Nederkoorn Shipbroking Pte. Limited (‘Nederkoorn’), acting as the broker of Jindal, confirmed to M/s. Portshire Limited Shipbrokers and Consultants (‘Portshire’), a co-broker for Marina, the fixture in respect of a vessel M.T. Bakri Adventurer for carriage of cargo consisting of coconut oil & palm oil from Pasir Gudung Port, Kelang to the Port of Novorossik. This was confirmed by a telefax dated 7th November 1994 to the same effect sent by Nederkoorn to Portshire. Copies of the telex dated 5th November 1994 and the fax message of 7th November 1994 have been enclosed with the petition.

3. It is stated that on 28th November 1994 a vessel M.T. Bakri Adventurer proceeded to load at the Port of Pasir Gudang. It thereafter commenced a second loading to ship from M.V. Ararat. On 21st November 1994 the vessel proceeded for a third loading from Port Kelang. This was completed on 21st November 1994. The vessel thereafter proceeded to the discharge Port of Novorossik.

4. Marina states that although the vessel was scheduled to berth at Novorossik on 30th December 1994, it could not do so as it was repairing its pump mid-stream. It is then stated that between 2nd and 4th January 1995 there were heavy rains at Novorossik resulting in the flooding of the Port and its temporary closure.

5. The case of Jindal, however, is that the captain of the vessel, taking advantage of the situation, issued a Notice of Readiness (‘NOR’) for discharge on 2nd January 1995 while the pumps were still out of order. The NOR was accepted on behalf of Jindal by its receiver on 6th January 1995 and discharge of cargo commenced at 16:48 hours on that date. However, the discharge rate could not be maintained since both the pumps lost power and there was no sedimentation due to improper heating. According to Jindal, the discharge concluded on 9th January 1995. However, the complete cargo could not be discharged due to sedimentation. Jindal claimed that it suffered losses on account of short discharge of cargo.

6. On 24th January 1995, M/s. Harlec Shipping Inc. (‘Harlec’), an agent of Marina, raised the bill on Jindal for demurrage charges for the period from 2nd January 1995 to 9th January 1995 for USD 47,506.42. This claim was refuted by Jindal. On 1st February 1995, M/s. Hontrade Ltd. (‘Hontrade’), an agent of Jindal, raised a claim of USD 34,514 against Marina for short receipt of their consignments. On 2nd February 1995, Jindal sent Marina a fax objecting to the demurrage claimed and requested for the requisite documents and details. Jindal states that on 20th February 1995, Harlec sent a reply which was forwarded by Portshire to Nederkoorn with instructions to pass it on to the charterers. This according to Jindal showed that Nederkoorn was a co-broker of Marina itself and was not acting as Jindal’s agent.

7. Jindal states that on 15th March 1995 it received a fax from the Nort