There is much to go through before a deed is signed, sealed & delivered, says Lauren Roberts
In the recent case of Silver Queen Maritime Limited v Persia Petroleum Services Plc [2010] EWHC 2867, [2010] All ER (D) 202 (Nov) Mr Justice Lindblom considered the issue of when parties will become bound by a settlement deed and whether parties to settlement negotiations are under a duty of disclosure.
In January 2007, a subsidiary entity of Persia Petroleum Services Plc (PPS) entered into a contract to carry out a marine oil exploration survey for Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC). The survey works were sub-contracted to Silver Queen Maritime Limited (Silver Queen) in May 2008.
The survey commenced in August 2008. Initially, Silver Queen’s invoices were paid by PPS, funded by IOOC. In October 2008, IOOC ceased funding the works and so PPS stopped paying Silver Queen’s invoices, even though there was no express or implied term of the contract between PPS and Silver Queen that payment to Silver Queen was dependent on PPS receiving funds
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