The High Court has set aside a summons and dismissed a cargo owner’s claim against South Korean shipping company Eukor Car Carriers Inc., ruling that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case against it.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Noonan on 3 October 2016, concerned an application by Eukor to set aside service of the summons and dismiss the claim against it. The claim against the second defendant, NMT Shipping UK Limited, was not dismissed by the order described in the judgment.
Castlelyons Enterprises Limited said its construction machinery was released in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, to an unknown third party without authority, causing the loss of the goods. Its 2014 solicitors’ letter alleged conversion and put the cargo’s shipping value at €989,000, while stating that the loss claimed had risen to €16.5 million. The 2015 summons claimed damages on several grounds, including breach of contract, negligence, wrongful delivery and conversion. These were claims and allegations, not findings on their merits.
The judgment recounted evidence from Eukor’s deponent that the English shipping agent NMT asked for the bill of lading consignee to be changed to Sire Contracting LLC, then requested release of the cargo to Sire without presentation of the original bill. The cargo arrived in Jebel Ali on 20 March 2009 and was released after the original bill was later surrendered. The plaintiff said it did not receive the bill until 2010. The court did not decide whether the release was wrongful or determine the claimed loss.
The court identified two defects in the summons: it did not specify the precise provision relied on as the basis for Irish jurisdiction, and the plaintiff served the original summons rather than notice of it on Eukor. The judge also held that the EU Brussels Recast Regulation did not provide jurisdiction over Eukor, which was domiciled in South Korea. The plaintiff’s counsel had conceded that jurisdiction was not being claimed under the national rules in Order 11.
The judgment added that a choice-of-jurisdiction clause in the bill of lading selected the Seoul Civil District Court in Korea and would in any event oust the Irish court’s jurisdiction. The operative order was limited to setting aside the summons and dismissing the claim against Eukor.