The Star Antares [2023]: 'any subsequent modification' and YAR 2016
Butcher J's decision that the Congenbill 1994 words 'York-Antwerp Rules 1994 or any subsequent modification thereof' bring in the York-Antwerp Rules 2016.
Star Axe I LLC v Royal and Sun Alliance Luxembourg SA (Belgian Branch) (The Star Antares) [2023] EWHC 2784 (Comm) was decided by Butcher J on 10 November 2023. Bills of lading on the Congenbill 1994 form provided that general average ‘shall be adjusted, stated and settled according to York-Antwerp Rules 1994, or any subsequent modification thereof’.
Butcher J held that the York-Antwerp Rules 2016 are a subsequent modification of the 1994 Rules within those words, so the 2016 Rules governed the adjustment. The decision turns on the carry-forward wording; it does not touch a clause that names YAR 1994 alone, such as NYPE 2015 Clause 25.
The full article will cover the facts, the construction argument, the consequences for adjusters where bills and charter parties name different editions, and the drafting response in the market.