SFL Ace 2 Co Inc v DCW Management Ltd (formerly Allseas Global Management Ltd) [2024] EWHC 1877 (Comm) - King's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Christopher Hancock KC) - 22 July 2024

Time charterparty - Guarantee - Guarantee in charterparty - Emails sufficient to satisfy the Statute of Frauds requirement for evidence in writing - Statute of Frauds 1677, section 4

The claimant owners were part of the SFL Group which owned and managed a fleet of around 75 ships, including about 35 container ships. One of the vessels, Green Ace, was at the beginning of 2022 coming to an end of a long-term time charter, broked by Clarksons. On 2 March 2022 Clarksons emailed SFL suggesting a fixture with Allseas, a UK-based freight forwarder and logistics provider and a subsidiary of Allseas Global Management Ltd (AGML) (now DCW Management Ltd). Allseas were interested in chartering Green Ace for a period of between 24 and 26 months.