UK law firm Campbell Johnston Clark (CJC) has revealed it helped thwart a rare legal manoeuvre by Belgian owner Euronav in a $35m legal row over a suspected Iranian crude cargo.
United Arab Emirates-based cargo owner Black Swan Petroleum (BSP) has brought a damages claim in Malaysia over the loss of more than 600,000 barrels of oil that were discharged to Euronav’s floating storage unit, the 441,600-dwt Oceania (built 2003), off Malaysia in March 2023.
The US later seized the oil.
CJC lawyers Ian Short and Danyel White were part of BSP’s legal team.
They wrote on the law firm’s website that they had resisted an application made in the English High Court by Euronav for a little-seen “anti-anti-arbitration injunction” (AAAI) in the case.
The AAAI was designed to remove an anti-arbitration injunction (AAI) obtained by BSP in Malaysia, which restrained Euronav’s prosecution of a London-based arbitration.
The English court has ruled there was a high degree of probability that an arbitration agreement was in force between the parties on terms.
And the judge also considered there was a breach of the agreement by BSP in having obtained the AAI order.
However, the judge declined to grant Euronav’s AAAI.
Not intervening
He ruled it would not be appropriate for the English court to intervene in the Malaysian litigation.
The judge also ruled that Euronav had delayed in applying for the AAAI.
CJC worked closely with Singapore law firm Oon & Bazul and counsel Oliver Caplin KC.
“The judgment will be of interest to practitioners dealing with anti-suit injunctions generally, and those involved in cross-border conflicts between arbitration and litigation,” the CJC lawyers said.
They explained the ruling “in particular highlights the way in which party conduct can have a real and appreciable impact on the availability of this discretionary remedy”.
Euronav has been contacted for comment.
Campaign group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) had raised the alarm about the source of the reputed Iraqi cargo during its discharge from the Vietnamese-owned 105,200-dwt Abyss (built 1998) to the Oceania.
The group claimed the Abyss had been spoofing its position and had loaded the cargo at the Iranian port of Bandar Mahshahr.
The legal dispute centres on the agreement struck by Malaysian company Silk Straits to secure three months of storage on the Oceania at $20,000 per day from Euronav.
Silk Straits in turn rented out the space to Black Swan Petroleum. But Black Swan Petroleum claims it was not part of an agreement in the original deal to settle any dispute at arbitration in London.
Euronav’s own investigation backed UANI’s claims.
