London arbitration: can foreign courts compete against it? By Matthew Saunders & Nick Marsh
A vessel owned by West Tankers Inc (West Tankers) and chartered to Erg Petroli SpA (Erg Petroli) collided with a jetty owned by Erg Petroli in Italy. The charterparty, which was governed by English law, contained an arbitration agreement providing that all disputes arising from the contract were to be dealt with by arbitration in London. The insurers of Erg Petroli, Allianz SpA and others (Allianz and others), paid compensation for the damage arising from the collision. Proceedings were commenced in the following order:
● Erg Petroli brought an arbitration in London for its uninsured losses.
● Allianz and others commenced court proceedings in Italy to recover the amounts which they had paid Erg Petroli under the insurance policies.
● West Tankers commenced court proceedings in England against Allianz and others, seeking a declaration that the subject matter of the Italian proceedings fell within the arbitration agreement and that Allianz and others were bound by the arbitration agreement. It also applied
