No Binding Arbitration Agreement; Renewed Importance Of The Classic Principles Of Construction And Interpretation

• Published date: 08 September 2023
• Law Firm: Quadrant Chambers
• Author: Lydia Myers

Emirates Shipping Line DMCES v Gold Star Line Ltd [2023] EWHC 880 (Comm)

The question before the Court in this challenge under S67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 was whether the parties to the proceedings were also parties to a memorandum of understanding governing the operation of a container shipping line containing, inter alia, an LMAA arbitration clause which Emirates Shipping Line DMCEST ("ESL") sought to rely upon.

Various communications were exchanged between the parties in or around October 2019 whereby it was agreed that ESL would phase in a vessel into the liner service in January of the following year and in return, ESL would purchase slots on the vessels presently in the service. The question was therefore whether there was agreement between the parties as to the applicability and binding effect of the...