SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mathiew Christophe Rajoo, Probin Dass and Tan Hui Tsing, DennisMathiew
International Shipping and Chartering d.o.o. v Adria Orient Line Pte Ltd [1998] SGHC 289, the court imposed that security of USD50,000 be provided for arbitration in London. In KVC Rice Intertrade Co Ltd v Asian Mineral Resources Pte Ltd and another suit [2017] 4 SLR 182, the con - dition imposed was that the defendant was not permitted to raise objections to the jurisdiction of the President of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre to appoint an arbitrator if par - ties were unable to agree to the appointment of an arbitrator. In The “Navios Koyos” [2021] SGCA 99, the question was whether the stay of court proceedings ought to be granted uncon - ditionally or on condition upon a waiver of the time bar defence. The court found, inter alia, that the imposition of such a condition would deprive the respondent of an accrued and substan - tive defence and, hence, the stay was granted unconditionally. 7. Ship-Owners’ Income Tax Relief 7.1 Exemptions or Tax Reliefs on the Income of Ship-Owners’ Companies Profits derived from the operation of a Singa - pore-registered vessel are exempt from Singa - pore income tax. The exemption applies to the profits gained from the operation of activities outside the limits of the port of Singapore, as set out at Section 13A(1) read with Section 13A(16) of the Income Tax Act. These activities include: • the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock or goods outside the limits of the port of Singa - pore; • towing or salvage operations outside the limits of the port of Singapore; • the charter of ships outside the limits of the port of Singapore;
• the use outside the limits of the port of Singa - pore of the ship as a dredger, seismic ship or ship used for offshore oil or gas activity; • the use outside the limits of the port of Singa - pore of the ship for offshore renewable energy activity or offshore mineral activity; and • the finance leasing of the ship for use outside the limits of the port of Singapore, but only where the income in question is derived from the finance leasing on or after 12 Decem - ber 2018 and is not derived by the shipping enterprise as part of a business of trading in ships or constructing ships for sale. For foreign vessels, tax exemption applies to income derived from the carriage of passen - gers, mail, livestock or goods uplifted from Sin - gapore, except where that carriage arises solely from trans-shipment from Singapore, or is only within the limits of the port of Singapore (Section 13A(1) read with Section 13A(16) of the Income Tax Act). 8. Implications of Non- Performance, the IMO 2020, Trade Sanctions and the War in Ukraine 8.1 Force Majeure and Frustration Whether an event constitutes force majeure depends on the contractual definition of force majeure between parties and whether the event falls within such definition. As to whether an event constitutes frustration, the event would have to be an external event, beyond the control of contracting parties and without the default of either party, that renders the contractual obligation incapable of being performed because the circumstances in which performance if called for would render it a thing radically different from that which was under -
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