APC Marine Pty Ltd (ACN 119 763 012) v The Ship "APC Aussie 1"

In the case of APC Marine Pty Ltd v The Ship "APC Aussie 1", the plaintiff, APC Marine, sought to terminate a charterparty agreement for the ship "APC Aussie 1". The defendant, TDJV, was the owner of the ship and had entered into a charterparty agreement with APC Marine. The dispute centred around the validity of APC Marine's notice of termination and whether the charter had been correctly terminated. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue the court had to decide was whether APC Marine's notice of termination was valid and if the charterparty had been effectively terminated. Specifically, the court needed to determine if APC Marine's notice of termination was validly served under the terms of the charterparty and whether the anti-technicality proviso in clause 28 applied. If the proviso applied, APC Marine was required to give 10 clear banking days' notice to TDJV to remedy the alleged default before terminating the charter.

The court found that while the notice provisions in the charterparty were clear, the factual basis for an immediate termination notice was lacking. The court held that APC Marine had elected to apply the anti-technicality proviso in clause 28, which necessitated giving 10 clear banking days' notice to TDJV. Only after this notice period could APC Marine terminate the charter without further notice. Consequently, the charter was not effectively terminated on 8 April 2009, as APC Marine had not provided the requisite notice. The court concluded that the charter remained in effect as of 17 April 2009, when an interlocutory injunction was granted preventing APC Marine from withdrawing the ship from TDJV's service.

The court dismissed APC Marine's application and ordered that the charter had not been validly terminated as of 17 April 2009. The interlocutory injunction was dissolved, and TDJV was released from its undertaking as to damages. APC Marine was ordered to pay TDJV's costs of the proceedings.