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International Arbitration Forum

Offshore Support Vessels 12 Pte. Ltd. and Vroon Offshore Services Pte. Ltd. v. Inrada International Subsea Projects B.V.

Case summary

At a glance

Parties
Offshore Support Vessels 12 Pte. Ltd. and Vroon Offshore Services Pte. Ltd. (both Singapore) v. Inrada International Subsea Projects B.V. (Schiedam, Netherlands)
Case no.
Gerechtshof Den Haag, No. 200.276.881/01 (ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2020:2113)
Court
Gerechtshof Den Haag (Court of Appeal of The Hague), Civil Law Division
Forum and rules
Enforcement under Article 1075 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure and the New York Convention 1958
Underlying award(s)
Final arbitration award rendered in London on 27 July 2016 under Article 34 of the charterparty
Tribunal
H.J. van Kooten, C.J. Verduyn, M.C.M. van Dijk (judges)
Sector
Shipping; offshore vessel charter
Outcome
Leave to enforce the London award in the Netherlands granted; Inrada did not appear and was ordered to pay costs.
Amount
Amount awarded in the arbitration: USD 795,785.94 plus interest and costs. Costs of the enforcement proceeding: EUR 865.50 in disbursements and EUR 2,148 in lawyer's fees.

The dispute

On 26 August 2015, Vroon Offshore Services Pte. Ltd. chartered an offshore service vessel, which Vroon then owned, to Inrada International Subsea Projects B.V. Inrada did not pay the charter hire. In 2016 Vroon obtained leave from the preliminary relief judge of the Rotterdam District Court to levy a prejudgment third-party attachment against Inrada. Vroon Offshore then began arbitration in London under Article 34 of the charterparty and claimed USD 795,785.94. Inrada was properly summoned but did not appear. The final award of 27 July 2016 ordered Inrada to pay the amount claimed, with interest and costs. The award was no longer open to challenge and Inrada did not pay it, so Vroon asked the Court of Appeal of The Hague for leave to enforce it in the Netherlands. Inrada did not appear in the enforcement proceeding either and raised no defence.

Key holdings

  1. The Court has jurisdiction because Inrada's registered office is in Schiedam, which lies within the district of the Court of Appeal of The Hague (Articles 1075(2) and 985 of the Code of Civil Procedure). ¶ 4.1
  2. Vroon first filed copies of the documents. At the Court's invitation, it then submitted the legalised original of the award and the original charterparty, which the Court examined and returned. This satisfied Article IV(1) of the New York Convention. Both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are parties to the Convention. ¶ 5.1
  3. No Dutch or Frisian translation of the award or the charterparty was filed. The Court did not need one because it reads English well enough to understand the documents. ¶ 5.2
  4. No ground for refusing enforcement appeared. Leave to enforce the award of 27 July 2016 was granted, and the decision was declared provisionally enforceable. ¶¶ 5.3–5.4; Decision
  5. Inrada lost and pays the costs of the proceeding: EUR 865.50 in disbursements (bailiff's writ EUR 105.50 and court fee EUR 760) and EUR 2,148 in lawyer's fees. Decision

Procedural history

  1. 26 August 2015Vroon Offshore charters the vessel to Inrada.
  2. 2016The Rotterdam District Court's preliminary relief judge gives leave for a prejudgment third-party attachment against Inrada.
  3. 27 July 2016Final arbitration award in London orders Inrada to pay USD 795,785.94 plus interest and costs. Inrada did not appear in the arbitration.
  4. 9 April 2020Vroon files its request for leave to enforce with the Court of Appeal of The Hague.
  5. 19 June 2020Oral hearing held via Skype. Inrada, duly summoned by bailiff's writ of 15 May 2020, does not appear.
  6. 2 July 2020Vroon submits the legalised original award and the original charterparty.
  7. 17 July 2020The Court grants leave to enforce the award.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by
For the claimant
D. Komen

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Keywords

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.

Case ID
Gerechtshof Den Haag (Court of Appeal of The Hague), No. 200.276.881/01
Country
Claimant
Offshore Support Vessels 12 Pte. Ltd. and Vroon Offshore Services Pte. Ltd.
Respondent
Inrada International Subsea Projects B.V.
Section

Court: Netherlands, Gerechtshof Den Haag (Court of Appeal of The Hague)
Date of decision: 17 July 2020
Case number: 200.276.881/01
New York Convention provisions: IV | IV(1) | IV(2)
Source: New York Convention case law case database.