ED&F Man Sugar Ltd. v. Unicargo Transportgesellschaft mbH (The “Ladytramp”) – Court of Appeal, 19 Nov 2013

SUGAR CHARTER PARTY 1999 — CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION — FIRE CAUSING TERMINAL BREAKDOWN — OBLIGATION TO NOMINATE ALTERNATE BERTH — GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE DEFINED — Owner Award

Prior to the Vessel’s arrival at the load berth, a fire destroyed the terminal’s conveyor-belt system and the Vessel was forced to lie at anchorage and await Charterer’s instructions. Owner charged this delay as laytime, however Charterer argued that the inoperable conveyor-belt system should be considered a mechanical breakdown and therefore not count.