Owners of or other persons interested in the cargo lately laden on board “JEIL CRYSTAL” (IMO No. 9193587) v Owner of the vessel(s) JEIL CRYSTAL (IMO No. 9193587)

Case Significance

The "Jeil Crystal" [2024] SGHC 74 was decided by the General Division of the High Court of Singapore on 15 March 2024, in Admiralty in Rem No 256 of 2020, with judgment reserved by S Mohan J after hearings in July and August 2023 and on 30 October 2023. The plaintiff was the owners of or other persons interested in the cargo lately laden on board the vessel "Jeil Crystal" (IMO No. 9193587), and the defendant was the owner of that vessel. According to the judgment, a trade financing bank initially claimed damages against the shipowner for conversion of the cargo carried on board the ship, breach of contract and/or duty and/or negligence, and in particular for discharging and releasing the cargo without production of certain original bills of lading issued by the shipowner. The catchwords record that the case engaged a number of admiralty and shipping issues, including the vesting of rights of suit under the contract of carriage by virtue of the Bills of Lading Act 1992, whether the shipowner wrongfully issued switch bills of lading in breach of contract, whether the shipowner owed and breached a duty of care to the trade financing bank in issuing switch bills of lading, whether the shipowner as bailee owed and breached a duty in bailment to the bank, and a claim for damages for wrongful arrest. The plaintiff was represented by Liew Teck Huat and Phang Cunkuang of Niru & Co LLC, with the defendant represented by counsel including Tan Chai Ming Mark, Ahn Mi Mi, Genesa Tan Yun Ru and Tan Zu Er, Joey of Focus Law Asia LLC. The judgment referenced the Bills of Lading Act.