Transgrain Shipping (Singapore) Pte Ltd V Yangtze Navigation (Hong Kong) Co Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 2107
This was a further appeal, to the Court of Appeal, from an LMAA arbitration award, considering the true construction of the sweep-up provision at sub-clause 8(d) of the Inter-Club Agreement 1996 ("ICA '96"); specifically, whether the meaning of the term "act" in the phrase "act or neglect" should be restricted to a culpable act or given a broader meaning that included positive (no-fault) conduct.
As with the Tribunal and High Court (Teare J) before it, the Court of Appeal has found that "act", even though paired with "neglect" as an alternative, is to be given the broader meaning in this context and not to be confined to culpable (fault) conduct.
The decision also confirms that clause 8 of the ICA '96 is a mechanical process for the allocation of risk to which the critical factual enquiry is one of causation and not fault.
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