SWIRE SHIPPING PTE. LTD. v ACE EXIM PTE. LTD.

Case Significance

Swire Shipping Pte Ltd v Ace Exim Pte Ltd [2024] SGHC 211 was decided by S Mohan J in the General Division of the High Court on 16 August 2024, in Originating Application No 1280 of 2023, with hearings on 19 March and 10 May 2024. The application was a challenge by the applicant, Swire Shipping Pte Ltd, against an arbitral award, in proceedings opposed by the respondent, Ace Exim Pte Ltd. The judgment opened by observing that there has been a proliferation of challenges against arbitral awards on the basis that an award is tainted by some fatal jurisdictional or procedural defect, and noted that many such challenges tend to be disguised attacks on the merits of the tribunal's findings, guided by the cardinal principle of minimal curial intervention.

The catchwords framed the grounds for setting aside as the arbitral tribunal making a finding on an unpleaded issue in the course of disposing of a pleaded issue (raising whether the tribunal acted in excess of jurisdiction under Article 34(2)(a)(iii) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, and whether its finding was made in breach of natural justice under s 24(b) of the International Arbitration Act 1994 (2020 Rev Ed)), and the contention that the tribunal's finding on the evidence was "manifestly incoherent" and when an award may be set aside on that basis under s 24(b). The Arbitration Act, International Arbitration Act and Sale of Goods Act were referenced. Swire Shipping was represented by LVM Law Chambers LLC and Virtus Law LLP, with counsel including Lok Vi Ming, while Ace Exim was represented by Haridass Ho & Partners, with counsel including Lieu Kuok Poh and Tan Boon Yong Thomas.