Shipping

The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by charterers of a grounded vessel against a judge’s decision granting the insurers of the owner’s vessel an anti-suit injunction to restrain the continuance of proceedings brought in Turkey against the insurer of the vessel (the club) by the charterers. The court considered the juridical nature of a Turkish statute which gave a victim the right to sue a defendant’s insurer directly without first suing the insured. The judge had taken account of all the matters and had concluded that the proceedings in Turkey would be oppressive and vexatious because they would infringe the club’s contractual right, in circumstances where the club’s terms provided for London arbitration and that the club would only be liable if the owner had paid the claims against it. That was not an exercise of discretion which could be faulted.