News date: 21 May 2024
The team of Ilyashev & Partners’ Odesa Office successfully represented a foreign shipowner in a legal dispute with a charterer regarding non-fulfillment of his obligations to pay demurrage for keeping a vessel longer than the time agreed while performing cargo operations in the Ukrainian port.
Thus, in 2022, a foreign company, the tanker’s owner, concluded a Voyage Charter with a Ukrainian charterer. While handling cargo operations on the tanker in the Reni Seaport (Ukraine), demurrage totaling USD 102,000 was charged due to Vessel’s detention under cargo operations under the charter party, concluded between the parties. The shipowner requested the charterer to pay the invoice, whereby the company agreed to this and acknowledged its monetary obligations in writing.
Nevertheless, in 2023, the foreign shipowner received only a third part of the specified amount as a partial payment. Since then, the charterer has not paid the remaining amount. Due to the breach of charterer’s obligations, the shipowner sought legal assistance from Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm.
In order to protect the client, Ilyashev & Partners’ Maritime Law team has prepared and sent a letter of claim requesting the charterer to settle the invoice in full. Ilyashev & Partners’ attorneys managed to conclude a settlement agreement, according to which the charterer undertook to settle his debt within the terms as specified in the agreement.
However, the charterer once again ignored his obligations, breached the terms of the settlement agreement and did not settle the overdue debt, as well as the penalty following the violation of payment terms under the settlement agreement. Multiple attempts to settle the dispute with the charterer before trial had no effect, thereby Ilyashev & Partners’ Odesa Office attorneys filed a debt recovery claim against the charterer.
On 3 April 2024, the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal accepted the grounded legal position of the Ilyashev & Partners’ team and ruled to collect from the charterer the main debt of USD 75,000, a penalty in the amount of USD 25,000, as well as court fees. The Resolution of the Court of Appeal came into force from the date of its adoption and will be subject of the immediate enforcement.
The case was handled by Sergey Nedelko, Attorney at Law, Counsel, Head of Odesa Office and Dmytro Hruba, Attorney at Law at Ilyashev & Partners.