The Swiss subsidiary of Australian iron ore miner BHP Billiton was given the green light yesterday to take enforcement action in Hong Kong against shipping company Transfield ER Cape to recover about US$39 million owed in failed ship charters.
Admiralty judge Mr Justice Anselmo Reyes also granted BHP Billiton Marketing the provisional go-ahead through a garnishee order to take whatever cash was in two HSBC bank accounts as part of the enforcement process.
Mr Justice Reyes said he would give Hong Kong-based Transfield ER Cape time to explain why the order should not be made absolute. But once the order is confirmed, BHP will be allowed to seize any cash up to the amount it is owed.
The judge made his ruling after rejecting an attempt by Transfield ER Cape to stop the enforcement action pending a possible challenge to an arbitration decision in London which found in favour of the BHP Billiton offshoot.
Outlining his decisions, the judge said Transfield ER Cape had left it late in the day before trying to stop the enforcement action and thought any challenge in London was likely to fail.
Mr Justice Reyes added that Transfield ER Cape had also failed to pay US$4 million as interim security as previously instructed by Recorder Benjamin Yu SC. Mr Justice Reyes said that for that reason alone the 'application should be dismissed'.