This post was contributed by Professor James Devenney, Module Convenor for International Commercial law.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has recently expressed concern over the disruption to shipping between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. It estimates that somewhere between 12% and 15% of world trade uses this route but, as a result of attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the volume of traffic using that route has decreased by around 42%. The situation has also affected insurance premiums. Some ships are being re-routed around the Cape of Good Hope but this adds time and expense of transit with UNCTAD also noting the negative impact on C02 emissions.
One issue which might arise is whether or not any contracts governed by the Law of England and Wales, which have become much more expensive to perform, might potentially be frustrated. Any such argument would, of course, depend on the absence of a provision dealing with such circumstances in the contract. An instructive case is Tsakiroglou & Co v. Noblee and Thorl [1962] AC 93, which also involved the Suez Canal. In that case sellers agreed to sell groundnuts to buyers to be shipped from Port Sudan to Hamburg. Both parties anticipated that the shipment would be made via the Suez Canal although this was not actually specified in the contract. The Suez Canal was then closed by the Egyptian government, and this meant that the goods would have had to be shipped via the Cape of Good Hope, extending the time for delivery, on the facts, by about four weeks. The sellers failed to ship the goods and the buyers sued for non-performance. The sellers argued that the contract had been frustrated. The then House of Lords held that this was not frustration. The route for shipment had not been specified in the contract, nor was any precise delivery date agreed. The fact that the re-routing would cost more was regarded as irrelevant. Thus, the sellers were in breach of contract.
The more important issue is the genocide in palestine.
Frustration is more on this issue then on routes blocking in red sea dear sir. It is a question to humanity’s claim for human rights therefore it is our duty to talk about them if we consider ourselves human