Berhad v. The Queen

This was an application to strike out the Statement of Claim. The underlying action was a claim by the owner of the vessel “Lantau Peak” against the Federal government and two steamship inspectors. The two inspectors detained the vessel and would not allow it to be moved until repairs were completed. The Plaintiff wanted to move the vessel to another jurisdiction where the repairs could be done more economically than in Canada. The application to strike was dismissed for two reasons. It was an important and complex case involving the overlap and interplay of the Canada Shipping Act, two international Memorandums of Understanding, and the SOLAS Convention and therefore ought not to be decided on a motion to strike out. Secondly, it was far from plain and obvious that the Plaintiff would certainly fail at trial. (Note: In fact, the action was successful. The trial judgment is summarized below.)