Sumisho Reftech Co. Ltd. v. The “Great Pride”

In Arbitration/Jurisdiction Clauses in Maritime Law on (Updated )

This was an application to stay proceedings. The underlying matter concerned a contract for the carriage of goods from China to Japan and the parties to that contract were not Canadian residents. The only basis for bringing the action in Canada was that the Defendant COSCO had a Canadian office and the existence of this Canadian subsidiary gave the court jurisdiction under s. 46 of the Marine Liability Act. The Prothonotary granted the application for a stay subject only to COSCO’s waiver of any time bar defence, which COSCO agreed to do. The Prothonotary refused, however, to order that the stay be conditional on Japan accepting jurisdiction, a condition requested by the Plaintiff.