Alan

I spoke with Stuart Bland a short while ago. He instructs that ECTS would 
like to commence an action against the vessel owners. Stuart (who was also 
speaking for John Nowlan) wants to arrest the vessel as it arrives in 
Kuantan, West Malaysia to discharge the PX which was to be supplied to ECTS. 
According to Russell's calculations below, the vessel is due to arrive in 
Kuantan on or about 11 -12 October.

The objective is to arrest the vessel while it still has the cargo for the 
highest nuisance value.

Since we may be at the brink of commencing action, below is a quick status 
update (also for the easy reference of Richard who reads this in copy):

Cause of Action and Damages
As advised by WFW,  ECTS only has one cause of action against the vessel 
owners ie., failing in their duty to reasonably despatch the vessel to arrive 
within ETA.  

The cause of action is highly dependant on fact. Although we have some 
evidence that suggest that the initial ETA Daesan of 11/12 under the 
charterparty may not have been realistic, we still do not have all the facts 
as to why the vessel was delayed in the preceding port in Yantai, China. We 
were told by the vessel owners that the delay was due to the preceding 
charterers not having the necessary import licence ready, which if true, 
works in favour of the charterers.

As advised by WFW, the quantum of damages recoverable remains an issue. ECTS 
is likely to be able to recover  the difference in freight (about USD87,000), 
but the difference in price of the PX (about USD141,000) is less certain as 
the question of remoteness is again fact dependant. Suzanne advises that the 
cases have not always been consistent.

Winning the case, therefore, is not a sure thing.

The above has been communicated to Russell as the matter developed, as well 
as John and Stuart over the phone.  

Arresting the vessel
I took Suzanne Bainbridge's and Neale Gregson's advice over the phone earlier 
this evening. I am also scheduled to meet with Neale on Monday (4 Oct) or 
with both Neale and Suzanne on Tues (5 Oct), depending on Russell going 
through his tapes. I anticipate the meeting to be more likely Monday than 
Tuesday.

As advised, it is possible to arrest the vessel in Kuantan before the formal 
commencement of arbitration proceedings. 

For an arrest in Kuantan, arrest papers will have to be prepared by Malaysian 
lawyers. There is no need to quantify the claim for the arrest papers under 
Singapore and English law., but can only assume that the same is true under 
Malaysian law (which for most part follow English law). The arrest papers 
have to be endorsed by a Kuantan judge.

Under English and Singapore law (and presumably Malaysian law), the cargo 
owners would have a prima facie case against the arresting party for 
interfering with the sale and purchase contract. However, as ECTS has a prima 
facie case for arrest. The arrest would therefore not be wrongful and ECTS 
would not likely be liable to the cargo owners in that respect.

The cost for arrest proceedings alone in Singapore are typically around 
SGD8,000 and is likely to be the same in Malaysia.

However, Kuantan is apparently a notoriously difficult place to arrest a 
vessel because the judge is not usually accomodating and not well versed in 
admiralty law. 

It was initially thought by Russell and Stuart that the vessel would be in 
Kuantan over the weekend. Russell has since confirmed that that is not the 
case. This is fortunate because Neale advises that there would have been 
almost no chance of getting an order from the Kuantan judge over the weekend.

Regards

Matt

 
---------------------- Forwarded by Matthias Lee/SIN/ECT on 10/01/99 06:35 PM 
---------------------------
   
	Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corp.
	
	From:  Russell Aeria                           10/01/99 06:31 PM
	

To: Stuart Bland/LON/ECT@ECT, John L Nowlan/HOU/ECT@ECT, Matthias 
Lee/SIN/ECT@ECT
cc:  

Subject: Fw: pacific valor

john / stuart,

basis my past discussions with amoco where they informed me that this vsl is 
scheduled to discharge at kuantan and also the discussion i had with the 
owners some time ago, the vsl schedule approximately base on all the info i 
had is as follows :-

eta  daesan 22/9
etd  daesan 24/9 (loading px cargo)

eta  ulsan 25/9........(daesan --- ulsan 396 nautical miles based on 11 
knots) 
ulsan was shut on 25th due to typhoon
loaded vcm cargo on the 26/9
etd ulsan  27/9

eta bangkok 6/10 (ulsan--- bangkok 2569 n.m. based on 11 knots) 
discharge cargo
etd bangkok 8/10

eta kuantan 10/10 (bangkok ---- kuantan 640 n.m. / 11 knots)
etd kuantan 11-12/10

pls note that i tried approaching epts (vsl owners) thro' various channels 
but they wld not disclose any info. i am piecing the above based on the 
telcons we had and current mkt info. this is consistent with the msg owners 
sent out offering space below.

rus
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

---------------------- Forwarded by Russell Aeria/SIN/ECT on 10/01/99 06:08 
PM ---------------------------


"Christos Giakoumatos" <attika@pacific.net.sg> on 10/01/99 05:36:53 PM
To: "Russell Aeria" <raeria@enron.co.uk>
cc:  (bcc: Russell Aeria/SIN/ECT)

Subject: Fw: 




----- Original Message ----- 
From: EPTS Singapore
To: mailto:Undisclosed-Recipient:;@media4.mediahub.com.sg
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 2:04 PM



Pls propose for our tonnage :


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------


e.progress
open east msia-bunyu-bontang  6-12 oct -  any dir

p.valour
open thailand  6-10 oct or
open spore  8-12 oct - dir indo
open indo  13-20 oct  or
open spore-strts  19-25 oct - dir north (p.space)

k.siu
open spore  20-31 oct - any dir

c.essberger
open spore  26 oct-3 nov - any dir

e.pioneer - employed

++

c.barokah
open ulsan  1-6 oct -  dir spore/indo/sea

++

p.star
open ag  5-11 oct - any dir

++

Regards

EPTS (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Tel : (65) 2242188,  Fax : (65) 2242668
Mobile : (65) 98153913 (also message pager)
E-mail :
fix@epts.com.sg (General/Cargo quotes)
pt@epts.com.sg  (Private)
 - att1.htm