“A liability in equity to make good resulting loss attaches to a person who dishonestly procures or assists a breach of trust or fiduciary obligation”, per Lord Nicholls in Royal Brunei Airlines v Tan,[1995] 2 AC 378 p.392G. Mr. Berry disputed this, citing the decision of the Court of Appeal in Satnam Investments Ltd. v Dunlop Heywood & Co Ltd.,[1999] 1 BCLC 385 , 404, and the decision of David Steel J in Petrotrade Inv v Smith,[2000] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 486 at pp. 491-2. In particular, in the Satnam case Nourse LJ referred to cases of liability for knowing receipt of trust property and for knowing assistance and said that, “before a case can fall into either category there must be trust property or traceable proceeds of trust property”
“In my judgment the defendants are right to say that the “orchestration” of the sale to Gazprom and of the reinvestment of the proceeds do not amount to dishonest assistance. But that does not render them irrelevant to the dishonest assistance claim. There is authority that a claim may be made against a dishonest assistant either for compensation for loss which the claimant has suffered as a result of the misapplication of trust property or other breach of trust; or for an account (as a personal not a proprietary remedy) of any profit that the dishonest assistant may make from his dishonest assistance or from the underlying breach of trust: Fyffes Group v Templeman,[2002] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 643 ; Ultraframe (UK) Ltd. v Fielding,[2005] EWHC 1638 (Ch) . It seems to me at least arguable that any profit made by Mr. Abramovich by reason of the inclusion of the participation interests in Sibneft when it was sold to Gazprom, was attributable to and resulted from the original dishonest assistance in relation to the ECMs (if there was any), even though the sale itself was not a further act of dishonest assistance, and that Mr. Abramovich would be accountable (on a personal basis) therefore. If, as the defendants assert, no value was attributed to the 49% interests by either of the parties to the sale, and Mr. Abramovich has, in effect, given them away, he is, nevertheless, accountable for whatever their true value was when he did so.”
“If the maintenance of a very high standard of conduct on the part of fiduciaries is the purpose of the rule it would seem equally necessary to deter other persons from knowingly assisting those in a fiduciary position to violate their duties. If, on the other hand, the rule is to be explained simply because it would be contrary to equitable principles to allow a person to retain a benefit that he gained from a breach of his fiduciary duty, it would appear equally inequitable that one who knowingly took part in the breach should retain a benefit that resulted therefrom”
“1. A transaction made under the influence of fraud, duress, threat, a bad-faith agreement of the representative of one party with another party, and also a transaction that a person was compelled to make as the result of the confluence of harsh circumstances on conditions extremely unfavourable for himself that the other party used (an oppressive transaction) may be declared invalid by a court on suit of the victim. 2. If a transaction is declared invalid by a court on one of the bases indicated in Paragraph 1 of the present Article, then the other party shall return to the victim everything it received under the transaction and, if it is impossible to return it in kind, its value in money shall be compensated. Property received under the transaction by the victim from the other party and also due to it in compensation for that transferred to the other party shall be transferred to the income of the Russian Federation. If it is impossible to transfer the property to the income of the state in kind, its value in money shall be taken. In addition the victim shall be compensated by the other party for the actual damage caused to him.”
“1. Harm caused to the person or property of a citizen and also harm caused to the property of a legal person shall be subject to compensation in full by the person who has caused the harm. A statute may place a duty for compensation for harm on a person who is not the person that caused the harm A statute or contract may establish a duty for the person who has caused the harm to pay the victim compensation in addition to compensation for the harm. 2. The person who has caused the harm is freed from compensation for the harm if he proves that the harm was caused not by his fault. A statute may provide for compensation for the harm even in the absence of fault of the person who caused the harm. 3. Harm caused by lawful actions shall be subject to compensation in the cases provided by a statute. Compensation for harm may be refused if the harm was caused at the request, or with the consent, of the victim, and the actions of the person who caused the harm do not violate the moral principles of society.”
“The unlawful transfer to a person fulfilling management functions in a commercial or other organisation of money, securities, commercial paper or other property, and also unlawful rendering of services to him of a property nature for the commission of actions (or inactions) in the interests of the person giving in connection with the office held by this person”
“1. A person whose right has been violated may demand full compensation for the losses caused to him unless a statute or a contract provides for compensation for losses in a lesser amount. 2. Losses means the expenses that the person whose right was violated made or must make to reinstate the right that was violated, the loss of or injury to his property (actual damage), and also income not received that this person would have received under the usual conditions of civil commerce if his right had had not been violated (forgone benefit). If the person who has violated a right has received income thereby, the person whose right has been violated has the right to demand – along with other losses - compensation for forgone benefit in a measure not less than such income.”
“Had it not been for the breach, then the victim in the second year could have jolly well sublet or leased out the cargo [sic] himself and would have derived an income by himself and in the current scenario it’s the perpetrator who is deriving the second year income. So there is economic justification for that”
“1. A person who, without bases established by a statute, other legal acts, or a transaction, has acquired or economized property (the recipient) at the expense of another person (the victim) shall have the duty to return to the latter the unjustly acquired or economized property (unjust enrichment), with the exception of the cases, provided by Article 1109 of the present Code. 2. The rules provided by the present Chapter shall be applied regardless of whether the unjust enrichment was the result of the conduct of the acquirer of the property, the victim himself, third persons, or occurred against their will.”
“To the extent not otherwise established by the present Code, other statutes or other legal acts, nor otherwise follows from the nature of the respective relations, the rules provided by the present Chapter shall also be applied to claims: 1). for return of performance under an invalid transaction; 2). for the recovery of property by an owner from another’s illegal possessions; 3). of one party in an obligation to another for return of performance in connection with this obligation; 4). for compensation for harm including that caused by the badfaith conduct of the enriched person.” 120. Article 1105: “1. In case of the impossibility of the return of the unjustly received or economized property in kind, the acquirer must compensate the victim for the actual value of this property at the time it was acquired and also for the losses caused by later change in the value of the property if the recipient has not compensated for its value promptly after he learned of the unjust enrichment. 2. A person who has unjustifiably made temporary use of another’s property without the intent to acquire it or of another’s services must compensate the victim for what the person economized as the result of such use at the price existing at the time when the use ended in the place where it occurred.”
“1. A person who has unjustly received or economized property shall have the duty to return to or compensate the victim for all incomes that he extracted or should have extracted from the property from the time when he learned or should have learned of the unjust enrichment. 2. Interest for the use of another’s assets (Article 395) shall be calculated on the sum of unjust monetary enrichment from the time when the acquirer learned or should have learned of the unjust receipt or saving of monetary assets.”
“Furthermore, Mr. Nikitin can possibly be viewed as a person who unjustly enriched himself from the uncommercial contracts concluded by the companies under his control which provides grounds for presenting a claim directly against him under Article 1102 of the [Civil Code]. Even though it was companies under Mr. Nikitin’s control which benefited from the uncommercial contracts, in my view this would not be an obstacle for presenting an unjust enrichment claim against Mr. Nikitin as the ultimate beneficiary. Taking into account the underdeveloped state of the Russian corporate law and its application in practice, this method of protection of civil law rights of the persons aggrieved by the uncommercial contracts might face certain difficulties in Russia. However, these difficulties would lie in the practical sphere of providing the links of unjust enrichment rather than in existence of any formal obstacles in Russian law to the application of this method of protection of civil law rights.”
“A person who by virtue of a law or constitutive document of a juridical person acts in its name must operate in the interests of the juridical person represented by him in good faith and reasonably. He shall be obliged at the demand of the founders (or participants) of the juridical person, unless provided otherwise by a law or contract, to compensate for losses caused by him to the juridical person”
“An employee must compensate an employer for direct actual damage which he has caused. Revenues not received (loss of profit) are not recoverable from the employee.”
“The manager of an organisation shall bear full material liability for direct actual damage caused to the organisation. In cases specified by federal laws, the manager of an organisation shall compensate the organisation for losses caused by his culpable actions. In addition, the calculation of losses shall be carried out in accordance with the norms specified by civil legislation.”
“an employer has the right to take court action in respect of disputes regarding compensation for damage inflicted to the employer, but such action must be taken no later than a year from the date the damage inflicted is discovered”
“…the need for a relevant criminal finding for the purposes of establishing a civil claim is not a requirement of substantive law. Such a requirement is not identified in any substantive or even procedural law. It derives solely from court practice. A civil cause of action cannot be established in the court practice. It can only arise by virtue of law or regulatory legal acts. Court practice is not a source of law in Russia.”
“(1) The general rule is that the applicable law is the law of the country in which the events constituting the tort or delict in question occur. (2) Where elements of those events occur in different countries, the applicable law under the general rule is to be taken as being – (a) for a cause of action in respect of personal injury caused to an individual or death resulting from personal injury, the law of the country where the individual was when he sustained the injury; (b) for a cause of action in respect of damage to property, the law of the country where the property was when it was damaged; and (c) in any other case, the law of the country in which the most significant element or elements of those events occurred.” (a) for a cause of action in respect of personal injury caused to an individual or death resulting from personal injury, the law of the country where the individual was when he sustained the injury; (b) for a cause of action in respect of damage to property, the law of the country where the property was when it was damaged; and (c) in any other case, the law of the country in which the most significant element or elements of those events occurred.”
“The characterisation for the purposes of private international law of issues arising in a claim as issues relating to tort or delict is a matter for the courts of the forum”
“The nature of the remedy is to be determined by the lex fori. Thus if the claimant is by the lex causae entitled only to damages but is by English law entitled to specific relief, the latter type of remedy is available in England”
“(1) The obligation to restore the benefit of an enrichment obtained at another person’s expense is governed by the proper law of the obligation. (2) The proper law of the obligation is (semble) determined as follows: (a) If the obligation arises in connection with a contract, its proper law is the law applicable to the contract; (b) If it arises in connection with a transaction concerning an immovable (land), its proper law is the law of the country where the immovable is situated (lex situs) (c) If it arises in any other circumstances, its proper law is the law of the country where the enrichment occurs.” (a) If the obligation arises in connection with a contract, its proper law is the law applicable to the contract; (b) If it arises in connection with a transaction concerning an immovable (land), its proper law is the law of the country where the immovable is situated (lex situs) (c) If it arises in any other circumstances, its proper law is the law of the country where the enrichment occurs.”
“If there is a contractual or similar relationship between the claimant and the defendant, the law of that relationship is likely to govern. If the parties are complete strangers and the defendant is a recipient from a wrongdoer, the place of receipt is likely to be relevant, although that may well not be so if, for instance, the place of receipt is a transitory home. If the defendant is the primary wrongdoer or the instigator of, or someone vicariously responsible for, the wrongdoing, it is likely to be relevant to examine where the wrongdoing and its effects took place.”
“Briefly stated, the claimants contended that the design underlying the defendants’ fraudulent activities was to generate funds outside Kuwait, the primary location chosen to effect such design being London. The moneys were largely obtained through Clarksons in London, Mr. McCoy playing a central role in the events which gave rise to the proceedings; of the 27 charterparties used by the defendants as part of their fraudulent conspiracy, only six were signed in Kuwait and the rest were signed in London; the overt acts of the conspirators in effecting their frauds were substantially committed in London, schemes I, II and III all involving the procurement of Clarksons to remove money from accounts held by them on the claimants’ behalf in London, largely in cash or traveller’s cheques delivered in London; and the bulk of the known enrichment took place in London rather than Kuwait.”
“Control of the timely chartering out of ships by the companies Fiona and Sovchart based on freight rates corresponding to the global market level and on terms not contradicting the company’s interests”, and “Carrying out broker operations for purchase and sale of ships and financing purchase operations”
“To organise, with the assistance of the Finance Ministry of the Russian Federation and the Foreign-Trade Bank, the refinancing of the 580-million dollar credit extended by the bank KfW [Kreditanstalt fur Wiederafbau, an East German government-owned development bank] for the construction of 10 long-distance container carriers, and repay money into the federal budget in accordance with an agreed plan”
“To determine, within the framework of fleet specialisation, the following principal lines of activity: exporting transport services relating to shipment of oil, petroleum products, containers and passengers; servicing Russian domestic trade in the shipping of crude oil, containers, general cargoes and bulk cargoes”; and “To expand collaboration with Russian ship owning companies with respect to devising a coordinated market policy and development strategy, the joint operations of ships and lines, the creation of chartering associations etc …”
“The principal objectives of the Company’s activities are: … The development of the Company as a substantial national carrier, occupying a leading position in Russian shipping and strategic segments of the Russian carriage of goods business, being competitive on the international market; Establishment of the Company as a model participant in Russian shipping, as a centre of leading commercial experience, training of qualified management, a source of stable employment, a consumer of products and services of domestic companies.”
“It is our direct obligation, as a major Russian ship-owner, to support the developing energy sector of Russia and to concentrate on export transportation of Russian oil. Project “BMaks” contemplates the reduction of the transportation costs for our clients with the simultaneous increase in safety in the Baltic region. We are pleased of such interrelation.”
“The Board of Directors noted the information from S. O. Frank, General Director, on the progress of efforts to protect the interests of OAO Sovcomflot group of companies in their relationship with the Standard Maritime group of companies and recommended the General Director and the Board of Management to continue these efforts”
“maybe … I was not asked specifically this question”
“Please see attached two fee letters to be provided, namely 1. Borrower’s letter covering the full fee of 0.85%; and 2. Arranger’s letter covering the address fee of 0.35% of the total fee amount. I am sending to you Regis separately the letter that you are to provide to”
“Following our discussion, please see attached: Fee letter that the borrower will send you, agreeing to pay a fee of 0.85%, and Address commission letter that you will send back to the borrower, agreeing to pay the 0.35% address commission to the borrower or to its order. I propose that both letters should be dated on the date of signing the loan agreement, but with the stipulation that the payments must be made within five banking days thereafter. Please arrange for an exchange of these between yourself and Yuri. As I have explained, you will then receive a payment instruction from the borrower stipulating where the address commission is to be paid, together with a copy of the Power of Attorney under which it is signed”
“The usual practice is for the amount of the commission to be agreed between the sellers and brokers with whom they are dealing, the amount being a total figure “for division” between all the brokers involved. Thus, if both parties are represented by brokers, the buyer’s broker will indicate the amount which he claims for himself (including in this amount any payment which he may have agreed to make to another broker, or brokers, e.g. for introducing the buyer’s business to him) and the seller’s broker will then negotiate with the seller a figure for total commission, including his own and, likewise, that of any other intermediaries to whom he may be responsible. The buyer, therefore, pays the amount of the offer and no more, even to his own broker, unless there is some further agreement between them. The seller, on the other hand, receives only the net amount after deducting total commission, and the amount of commission is of particular importance to him. Sellers often try to reduce the total amount by negotiation with their own broker, and they can, if they so wish, discover the number and identities of the other brokers between whom the total commission will be divided. The amount of commission therefore forms part of the sale negotiations which the brokers are conducting on behalf of and with their principals, but it is unusual for the agreed terms to be included in the sale contract itself.” itself.”
“…it is not usual market practice for brokers to disclose the identity of those to whom commission payments will be, or have been, made (and the amounts of any such payments). Moreover, during the course of these particular transactions your clients did not seek to impose on us a requirement setting aside the usual market practice. Consequently, no information about commission payments, other than the gross commission payable to us, was sought by, or provided to, your clients (this will account for their inability to trace any relevant documents on their files). Not only is such information commercially sensitive, it is often governed by specific restrictions on its disclosure. As a result, although in accordance with my promise to reveal what commission was for Clarksons, we are not in a position to accede to your request to provide you with details of to whom commission payments were made and their amount. However, should your clients wish us to do so, we will seek authorisation from third parties to provide to you details of their participation in the commission arrangements.”
“We write to you following our discussions together about the continuation of Clarksons as brokers for the Fiona Group. As we have explained to you, for commercial reasons the Fiona Group wishes to move away from the industry practice of there being “address commissions” included within the contract, either when ordering new ships or when arranging for sale or purchase of secondhand ships. Instead, in relation to projects in which you will act as broker for the Fiona Group, we request you please to confirm that you will agree instead to a method by which the commission due to Clarksons on any contract, either for ordering a new vessel or for arranging sale or purchase of a secondhand ship, will be agreed by us in each particular case, and that, out of the commission you receive, you will then pay to a company to be nominated within the Fiona Group the proportion of the commission which you collect that we have agreed on behalf of the Group will be retroceded back. As indicated, this arrangement will need to be agreed on a case-by-case basis, so that we agree in each case what the percentage division of Clarksons’ headline commission will be. Please confirm your agreement to this arrangement in principle by countersigning this letter.”
“SCF Trader”, “SCF Challenger”, “SCF Endurance”, “SCF Champion”, “SCF Spirit”, “SCF Star” and “SCF Trust”
“7 OBOs en bloc at$27.8 mill net each with delivery in early May”
“USD212,500,000 en bloc, in cash less 4-1/3 pcnt total commission for division including 3 1/2 address commission to Buyers”
“We should get a counter but it might be a close run thing as [Mr] Sato [of Tsuneishi] was not very impressed by the offer. The main problems/comments are: ... 4. Price – not encouraged by the price – although better than what had originally been requested but with 1.5% address need to be prepared to pay well over US$41 mill as the address is an extra US$600,000 !”
“In terms of the address commission, the buyers would like all commissions – including ours – to be covered by a single commission agreement with Clarksons. We will collect all the commissions on behalf of the buying companies and will distribute to the buying companies against their invoices. This is the way that the buyers want it and trust that this can be arranged.”
“commission under separate agreement 2.5ttl here for division”
“As per telcon, we are authorised to improve the buyers’ last counter to US$30.5million less total 2 pcnt commission otherwise as per buyers last proposal … As you can see the total commission has been reduced by 0.5% which is a gesture from Clarkson to try to get this deal done and to extend the relationship with Mipo with this deal. It has proved to be impossible to get the buyers to reduce their address commission and although they are there to improve a little more, it will need a contribution from each of the parties in order to close the gap and do the deal ...”
“note this proposal includes commission!”
“You also pay another$200,000 now which you get back on payment of 10pct on Keel Laying”
“Trapped in our own web!! … The problem is that as we told them that the US$ 50,000 was address, under the words of the commission agreements this would need to be returned in the event of cancellation!”
“We have advised you that as an independent consultant, we are able to provide you on an ongoing basis, our ideas, which we anticipate will allow your company, and may indeed already have allowed your company to participate in the development of Russian controlled shipping companies and their subsidiaries. We therefore agree that we will provide this service on the basis that we receive a commission for introducing our ideas, of which you will be advised/have been advised. We make no claim for commission on business we have not discussed. You will receive our ideas relating to the buying and selling activities of Sovcomflot and/or Fiona Trust and Holdings, or any of their Single Purpose Buying or Selling Companies, also relating to buying and selling activities of Novorossiysk Shipping, Novoship and/or Intrigue, or any of their Single Purpose Buying or Selling Companies. There may be other Companies and opportunities, including Chartering, which we may advise you in due course, on which basis we again may mutually agree specific arrangements on a case by case basis. Our normal commission for such business resulting from our services to you is 1.5% on the gross value of the transaction, whether Buying or Selling, however this may be varied from time to time by mutual agreement, but we are anxious that Clarksons receive standard rates of commission for all business transacted. We request that all such payments be made to Milmont Finance Ltd., or such other Companies we may nominate from time to time, including Horber Financial SA and RTB Overseas Ltd. You will be invoiced for our introductory commission and we would ask you to make prompt payment when requested. We hereby assure you, that there are no Government Officials of any affiliation or nationality involved with this Company, nor any Officers, agents or Employees of any Company to which our information refers involved with this company, and on which basis we will be remunerated. Owing to the rather delicate nature of our exchanges, it would be appreciated that no reference is ever made to its source, and this agreement is kept entirely confidential between us, although we appreciate it must be shown to proper parties legally entitled to see it under English Law. The name of this Company or any other Company nominated by us to receive introductory Commissions, must not be disclosed to any third party without our express permission, unless you are required to do so under English Law. For the purposes of clarification, when we make any statement relating to this Company, such undertakings and statements are and will be true of any company nominated by this Company. We would be grateful, for your confirmation of receipt of this letter, in due course.”
“Your letter of 20 February has been received, and is acknowledged. Please maintain contact with Mr. Yuri Nikitin. As you have stated, the ideas exchanged are of course extremely confidential, and communications should be maintained on their present basis, as stated in your letter. For the sake of clarity, we confirm that no beneficiary of this or any Company nominated by us, including RTB Overseas of BVI, and Horber Financial SA, of Panama is a Company, entity or individual liable on these payments, to Tax in the UK, and we undertake to advise you if this changes. You have explained the reason, for a potential claim against ourselves or any other Company nominated by us, for repayment of our introductory commissions, in the event of a refund by the Yard to the Buyer. We agree to refund amounts to you or the shipyard, as they fall due under the stated circumstances.”
“You have again expressed your concern relating to the issue of UK Taxation. We hereby advise you that Mr. Yuri Nikitin will take personal care that in any case of disbursement of the assets of Milmont or other accounts previously mentioned, or advised to you in the future, in writing, there will be no entity or person subject to UK Taxation.”
"Where A and B contract with each other to confer a discretion on A, that does not render B subject to A's uninhibited whim. In my judgment, the authorities show that not only must the discretion be exercised honestly and in good faith, but, having regard to the provision of the contract by which it is conferred, it must not be exercised arbitrarily, capriciously or unreasonably."
“Please see attached the text of the proposal. As you can see, this has been structured in such a format that you can forward it to Moscow as if you had received it directly from the prospective buyer. I hope this is OK.”
“17m less 1%, 5 years, 8000 pd, 10,5m : 11,7% p/a. 17m less 1%, 5 years, 8000 pd, 10,0m : 11,18% p/a. 17m less 1%, 5 years, 7500 pd, 10,5m : 10,42% p/a. 17m less 1%, 5 years, 7500 pd, 10,0m : 9,86% p/a. 17m less 1%, 5 years, 7000 pd, 10,5m : 9,12% p/a.”
“The company does have such means available. However, to provide for normal current work and a stable financial position it is still necessary to have not less than 30-50 million US dollars in freely available assets. In connection with this it appears to be advisable to confirm the transaction with M/V “Fili”
“I do not consider it likely that Sovcomflot’s management would have undertaken the type of detailed analysis I have made in order to assess the cost of the financing alternatives open to them in 2002. However, they were aware of the different cost of debt, lease and equity capital and must have been aware of the limitations they had on raising additional secured debt funds due to the falling value of their vessels in 2001 and 2002 as well as the difficulty of raising new equity to sit side-by-side with that provided by the Russian State. In 2002 they had many new investment projects in which to invest, such as the redemption at a 50% discount of the MinFin loan, payments for their committed newbuilding contracts and new investments to be made in the Sakhalin crude oil and LNG transportation projects. They were also aware in 2002 of the major task ahead to raise new loans from international shipping banks to fund Sovcomflot’s large, committed newbuilding program. In my opinion, a clever and resourceful ship owner, such as Sovcomflot, could have concluded that, on balance, the higher cost of SLB financing compared to bank debt was acceptable because of the limited amount of alternative bank debt available, the impracticality of accessing such additional bank debt at that time and the benefit of retaining the additional debt capacity that was available for future use, considering the good return on capital that could reasonably be expected to be obtained from the funds raised from the SLBs.”
“We have … reconsidered the values of Arbat class, bearing in mind that they were allocated a “premium” for being double hull, but now “market vessels” has been re-assessed as also double hull and premium therefore should be cancelled”
“Following advice from Privalov that Standard Maritime will be taking over the contract for the first [Daewoo] newbuilding [sc hull no 5272], please find enclosed the following: ... short and informal ‘letter of intent’ which is designed to pre-date all of the contract transfers …”
“… in case [Kosta and Vicco] fail to fund either Buyer in relation to any instalment of the contract price under either contract and, in such situation, Fiona (in order to avoid to a call under the corresponding Guarantee) funds such Buyer to enable it to pay such contract price instalment to the Builder then, at the option of Fiona, the ownership of all the shares of such Buyer may be transferred to Fiona, which should only be obliged to pay to [Kosta and Vicco] as compensation an amount equal to the difference between: (a) the instalments already paid by that Buyer under the relevant contract that have been funded by [Kosta or Vicco]; and (b) the market price for sale of the relevant vessel, less instalments remaining to be paid under the Contract concerned unless also all costs and interest”
“At the moment the buyers are having trouble convincing their [Board of Directors] to approve the extra US$1 mill for the 4th ship. The reason for this is that having approved the deal for the firm ships and the first option at base price, they do not understand why they have to pay a premium for the 4th ship – especially when the firm contracts just signed (this is just the board not the working level people!)”
“Henriot has declared their option for another 12 months and are asking for the option for an additional 12 months. Believe optional year should be$25,000 ”
“spot market is rather weak at the moment and [time charter equivalent] during August was at around$14,000 per day nearly in all areas. [Time charter] market has been falling and for ice-class ships was reported at low$20,000 [per day pro rata]. While it is usual paid a premium for ice class, the normal ships obtained much lower levels. Due to considerable delay with Iraq oil export there may be further low oil supply for this year and next year as well, thus some weak rates expected on the market.”
“Novoship of Russia is said to have locked two modern Suezmax tankers into 12-month charters at a surprisingly low level. Sources suggest that the 150,000-dwt Kuzbass and Kaspiy (both built 1998) have been fixed by an undisclosed Russian charterer at$21,500 per day. In light of a firmer spot market for Suezmax tankers, brokers expected that the rate for such a period would be higher. London broker Clarkson says average one-year rates for modern Suezmaxes should be$26,000 per day.”
“On19 September 2003 information that Novoship had chartered out its Suezmax vessels Kaspiy and Kuzbass at a rate of$21,500 a day was published in the Norwegian newspaper, Trade Winds. The newspaper asserted at the same time, with reference to the London brokerage company Clarkson, that the vessels could have been chartered out at a rate of$26,000 a day. Talks regarding the chartering of the above vessels, including the agreement of conditions regarding the value of the freight, were held in August 2003. A significant fall in cargo rates for Suezmax vessels was observed during this period, as shown by the attached data, provided by representatives of the international organisation Intertanko and the same brokerage company, Clarkson. According to Intertanko’s information, the average cargo rate in August 2003 was$17,021 . Furthermore, a fall in cargo rates was noted during August in the mid Black Sea Region, where the above vessel was working for$21,676 to$12,010 [sic] thousand a day. It was under such circumstances that the vessels were chartered in accordance with the market price conditions, which were even higher than the average market rates, but the information on average rates cited in the newspaper cannot be recognised to be reliable, seeing as it contradicts other data provided by expert sources.”
“As discussed over the telephone and after a week of hard negotiations we managed to put vessels on subjects on following conditions: … In view of the market development this rate is a good hedging against any possible fluctuation and gives us coverage for the next three years on the Aframax tonnage newbuildings against their delivery program (within next 2 years). We think that such rates could be rather beneficial to Novoship, therefore, would appreciate if Owners could give consideration to this business opportunity, and authorise accordingly enabling us to complete the deal.”
“During performance of previous time-charters there were not any delays with hire payments and non supported claims from Charterers side. Owners lift their subs for proposed deal to guarantee earnings for next three years.”
“as per discussions we had tried to have 2 years straight but they are refusing categorically, so I think that we probably have to work along these lines now. We understood there are several different forecasts for the next 6-12-18 months, with more or less steady rates, while due to number of newbuildings the market is expected to go down thereafter. So if the worst scenario 6 months is to take place then we are protected and will have steady income to support our cashflow. Would appreciate if you please consider this business opportunity, give Owners’ opinion, and in case agreeing to above please authorise accordingly to complete negotiations in due course.”
“Because of the protocols with Fiona, if the share certificates are going to be issued in registered form in the name of Standard Maritime, then in the “spirit” of the agreements under which the shares were transferred but the Fiona guarantees were maintained to [the yards], Standard Maritime should create a pledge over those shares which would terminate on delivery, but which would give Fiona security in case Standard Maritime did not arrange the payments to [the yards]. What do you think of this?”
“… I do think that something is needed for Fiona to replace the share pledge deposits that are presently in place. If they are abandoned without any replacement then there is no sense in Fiona having agreed to the release so it will look really ‘smelly’”
“where a claimant seeks to prove a case of dishonesty, its inherent improbability means that, even on the civil burden of proof, the evidence needed to prove it must be all the stronger”, per Rix LJ in Markel v Higgins,[2009] EWCA 790 at para 50. The question remains one of the balance of probability, although typically, as UngoedThomas J put it in In re Dellow’s Will Trusts,[1964] 1 WLR 415 ,455 (cited by Lord Nicholls in In re H,[1996] AC 563 at p.586H), “The more serious the allegation the more cogent the evidence required to overcome the unlikelihood of what is alleged and thus to prove it”
“commissions unfortunately are rather high, buyer takes high address commission and then he has his own in house broking arm, resulting in commission here of 4.5%”
Showing the 50 most senior of 83.