Iceland
Drilling named one of its geothermal drilling rigs Tyr after the Norse god of
war but was left helpless when suing for alleged negligence in servicing the
rig. Having signed a credit application
which included terms limiting liability to the value of the maintenance
contract, Iceland Drilling was unable to recover more than $46,444.
Summit Hydraulic Solutions Ltd was sued
for alleged negligence in servicing the main mast cylinder of an Iceland
Drilling rig. In a preliminary hearing,
the High Court was asked to rule what terms of trade governed the service
contract.
Summit Hydraulic first started
maintenance work for Iceland Drilling in early 2013. Summit management required Iceland to sign what
it described as an application for credit before work would start. The application covered two pages. Page one was the credit application. Page two set out Summit’s terms of trade, including
a clause limiting liability for any loss. Evidence was given that Iceland management
signed the credit application on page one underneath a clause acknowledging
that the terms and conditions on page two had been read and were agreed.
Justice Brewer ruled Iceland was bound by
the effect of its signature. It had
agreed to accept the page two terms and conditions. It did not matter that Iceland failed to sign
page two as well, as required by Summit’s standard form instructions.
Jardboranir
HF v. Summit Hydraulic – High Court (23.03.16)
16.048