Issue 8, 2009 - The FronT Comor

At the time of the incident the ship was under a voyage charter to the refinery which owned the jetty. This charter was subject to English law and a London arbitration clause. The refinery brought London arbitration proceedings against the ship’s owner for its uninsured losses however the refinery’s insurers began a separate subrogated action in the local court in Sicily under Italian law.

The ship’s owner obtained an anti-suit injunction against the insurers in the English Court. The insurers appealed, and the House of Lords eventually referred the question of whether the owner was entitled to the injunction to the European Court.