Summary

These are appeals brought under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 against ten separate arbitral awards all dated 27 February 2025 ("the Awards") with common reasons ("Reasons") published by three experienced maritime arbitrators ("the Tribunal"). The Awards and the disputes that led to them arose out of ten individual shipbuilding contracts as novated ("the SBCs"), by which each respective SPV Claimant (individually "the Buyer" and collectively "the Buyers") agreed to buy, and the Defendants ("the Yard" or "the Seller") agreed to build and sell, ten container vessels of either 12,690 or 15,000 TEU[1] ("the Vessels"). The Tribunal unanimously held that the obligation in each of the SBCs to provide letters of guarantee ("Refund Guarantees") within 120 days, or such later date as the Buyer may designate in writing from time to time, was an innominate term and not a condition. As such, although the Yard's admitted failures to obtain those Refund Guarantees within 120 days entitled the Buyers to exercise their contractual rights of cancellation, the Buyers were not entitled to loss of bargain damages. Permission to appeal was granted by Foxton J (as he then was) on 9 June 2025 on the following question of law: "Whether the [Yard]'s obligation in Article X(A)(f) to provide a refund guarantee within 120 days of the novation of the relevant shipbuilding contract is a condition."