In Re the Arbitration Between Terminal Auxiliar Maritima, S. A. & Winkler Credit Corp.

160 N.E.2d 526, 6 N.Y.2d 294, 189 N.Y.S.2d 655, 1959 N.Y. LEXIS 1149
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 8, 1959
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 160 N.E.2d 526 (In Re the Arbitration Between Terminal Auxiliar Maritima, S. A. & Winkler Credit Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Arbitration Between Terminal Auxiliar Maritima, S. A. & Winkler Credit Corp., 160 N.E.2d 526, 6 N.Y.2d 294, 189 N.Y.S.2d 655, 1959 N.Y. LEXIS 1149 (N.Y. 1959).

Opinion

Fuld, J.

On November 14,1957, Terminal Auxiliar Marítima, as charterer, chartered a vessel from respondent Ocean Trading Corporation under a voyage charter agreement for the carriage of a cargo of sugar from Cuba to Europe. The agreement provided that11 Any dispute that may arise under this Charter [is] to be settled by arbitration, each party appointing an Arbitrator, and should they be unable to agree, the decision of an Umpire selected by them to be final.” Shortly thereafter, Terminal entered into an agreement with Gralban Lobo Trading Company whereby Gralban, as subcharterer, chartered the vessel from Terminal under the same terms as those of Terminal’s agreement with Ocean. In January, 1958, Ocean assigned its earnings from the agreement to Winkler Credit Corporation to satisfy its debt to the latter, and the present dispute is between Winkler and Terminal. Ocean continued to make the charter arrangements, however, and in March, 1958 entered into a time charter of the S. S. Gape Nelson for the transportation of the sugar with the owners of that vessel, Ralli Brothers, Ltd. The vessel began loading at the first of the two Cuban loading ports.

According to Terminal, Ocean failed to pay Ralli, and, after the cargo was half loaded, the master of the vessel, acting on the owners’ instructions, refused to deliver bills of lading to *297 Terminal unless Terminal undertook to perform Ocean’s duties under the time charter. When, after repeated requests by Terminal, Ocean failed to act, Terminal, in order to avoid further losses, made arrangements directly with Ralli for the affreightment with respect to which it had obligated itself to Galban, and the sugar was transported, pursuant to this alternate charter agreement, to Rotterdam. On the other hand, according to Ocean and Winkler, it was Terminal which breached the agreement. Desirous of obtaining the benefit of lowered freight rates, they say, Terminal conspired with Ralli to have the latter claim a default by Ocean in payment and then contract directly with Terminal for the transportation of the cargo at the lower rates.

At all events, after the carriage was completed, Winkler brought suit against Terminal in the Supreme Court, New York County, for Terminal’s alleged breach of its charter agreement with Ocean. Being unable to attach any property of Terminal, a Cuban corporation, in this jurisdiction, Winkler instituted two actions against Galban, one in New York and one in Rotterdam, on the theory that Galban, as shipper, had failed to pay the freight due under Ocean’s voyage charter with Terminal. Winkler succeeded in attaching property of Galban in each jurisdiction, and Galban called upon Terminal to hold it harmless in a dispute in which it was not involved.

Terminal thereupon commenced negotiations with Winkler and, as a result, the parties entered into a stipulation pursuant to which Terminal agreed voluntarily to submit to the in personam jurisdiction of the New York court by putting in “ A full and general appearance ’ ’ in Winkler’s suit against it and to post a bond in the amount of $75,000 on behalf of itself and Galban to secure Winkler’s claims, if any, against them. Winkler, in turn, promised to withdraw its New York and Rotterdam attachments. These arrangements were agreed to, 1 ‘ without prejudice ’ ’ to any rights and remedies available to the parties.

It was shortly after entering into this stipulation and effecting the withdrawal of the attachments that Terminal instituted the present proceeding in which it sought an order directing arbitration and staying the actions brought by Winkler against it and Galban in New York. Winkler opposed arbitration on *298 the ground, first, that there was no arbitrable controversy and, second, that Terminal had waived its right to arbitrate by entering into the stipulation. The court at Special Term decided in Terminal’s favor and the Appellate Division unanimously affirmed.

In support of its claim that there is no arbitrable controversy, Winkler contends, in effect, that Terminal’s substitute arrangements for the performance of the charter agreement amounted to a “ termination ” and “ cancellation ” of such charter agreement. That being so, argues Winkler, there was a 1 ‘ termination ” of all its rights under the charter, including Terminal’s right to arbitration.

It is settled that under a broad provision for arbitration, such as we have here, arbitration may be had as to all issues arising subsequent to the making of the contract. (See, e.g., Matter of Potoker [Brooklyn Eagle], 2 N Y 2d 553; Matter of Lipman [Haeuser Shellac Co.], 289 N. Y. 76; Matter of Hellenic Lines [Terminal Auxiliar Maritima, S. A.], 3 A D 2d 821, motion for leave to appeal denied 3 N Y 2d 705.) The so-called “ termination ” or “ cancellation,” relied upon by Winkler to defeat the arbitral process, was nothing more or less than a “ termination ” of a contract for an alleged breach or nonperformance of its terms. That does not put an end to the right to arbitrate claims accruing prior thereto, for, if it did, an arbitration clause could rarely, if ever, be carried out. In point of fact, the appellant does not regard the contract as having been “ cancelled ” in any real sense, since it is actually suing for its breach in the action now stayed. If the contract had been so “cancelled,” then neither party would have a claim under it, and Winkler’s lawsuit would be ripe for dismissal.

Although the court could not compel arbitration if an issue exists as to whether the contract ever came into existence, section 1450 of the Civil Practice Act, we have declared, “ seems to imply that all acts of the parties subsequent to the making of the contract which raise issues of fact or law, lie exclusively within the jurisdiction of the arbitrators. It is to be noted that * * * the statute only requires the contract to have been made and does not require that it shall continue to be in existence.” (Matter of Lipman [Haeuser Shellac Co.], 289 N. Y. 76, 80, supra.)

*299 In the present case, the dispute between Terminal and Ocean had its origin in the charter agreement, and the controversy primarily concerns their rights and obligations under it. It was the breach by Ocean, or by Terminal, as the case may be, which gave rise to the dispute now sought to be arbitrated, and it is just such disputes with which the arbitration provision was designed to deal. In short, the dispute having arisen “ subsequent to the making of the contract,” the controversy is an arbitrable one within the intendment of the charter provision. (Cf., e.g., Matter of Hellenic Lines [Terminal Auxiliar Maritima, S. A.], 3 A D 2d 821, motion for leave to appeal denied 3 N Y 2d 705, supra.) Alpert v. Admiration Knitwear Co. (304 N Y 2d 1), upon which "Winkler relies, is not in point, for there the court found that no bona fide dispute existed; in other words, there was no “ failure to comply ” with the contract within the meaning of section 1450.

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Bluebook (online)
160 N.E.2d 526, 6 N.Y.2d 294, 189 N.Y.S.2d 655, 1959 N.Y. LEXIS 1149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-arbitration-between-terminal-auxiliar-maritima-s-a-winkler-ny-1959.