Claims handling in action: demurrage, GAFTA and our team’s victory in the dispute of 300,000$
29 May, 2025
31
A Client, acting as the Seller under trade contract on supply of 27,000 metric tons of Ukrainian corn on CIF FO terms, applied to Interlegal in order to settle a problem that arose due to the Buyer’s late provision of documentary instructions for execution of consignment documents. As a result, the vessel discharge was delayed and the Client accrued over 312,000 USD as demurrage costs.
Having understood the opponents’ improper behavior during negotiations, Interlegal law team immediately initiated GAFTA arbitration proceedings upon the dispute. Our lawyers acted quickly and decisively, despite the opponent’s attempts to delay proceedings and to evade liability on the full amount of losses.
Thanks to professionalism, deep understanding of the nuances both in shipping and trade, as well as ability to effectively combine legal arguments with commercial logic, our lawyers not only led the arbitrators to a quick decision, but also opened the way to successful negotiations.
As a result, the parties managed to reach amicable agreement, the arbitration was withdrawn, while our Client received not only majority of the debt, but also almost the entire amount of arbitration costs, previously paid on deposit with GAFTA.
This case is one more illustrative example of how arbitration acts not only as a mechanism for resolving the dispute, but also as an effective step towards amicable settlement. Interlegal traditionally confirms its reputation as the best of the best in claims handling – having combined deep legal expertise with practical business approach, we protect our clients’ interests in the most complex commercial conflicts, facilitating the result where others only start analyzing. Interlegal lawyer Diana Mykhailova and managing associate Taras Dragan, managed by partners Karyna Gorovaya and Artem Skorobogatov, led the case.
