HIS HONOUR:

1 In July 1994 the plaintiff, Toyo Engineering Corporation (Japan) (“TEC”), entered into an agreement with Mobil Refinery Australia Ltd for performance of work in connection with the upgrading of the Mobil Altona Refinery. By a construction agreement executed on or about 5 April 1995 the defendant, John Holland Pty Ltd (“John Holland”), then called John Holland Construction and Engineering Pty Ltd, agreed with TEC to construct the works for a provisional price of $45M.

2 By GC15.1 of the construction agreement the parties agreed to refer disputes which may arise between them “to arbitration for settlement under the Rules of Conciliation and Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce”. It was further agreed that the arbitration should take place in Tokyo unless the parties agreed otherwise. By SC11.3 it was agreed that the construction agreement should be governed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Singapore and that arbitration should take place in Singapore.

3 In November 1996 the construction agreement was brought to an end and each of the parties in late 1996 and January/February 1997 filed a request for arbitration with the ICC pursuant to Article 3 of the ICC Rules. In due course, an arbitral tribunal was constituted and on 30 July 1997 the terms of reference were prepared and signed pursuant to Article 13 of the ICC Rules. The award of the arbitrators was made in Singapore on 12 October 2000 but it was not received by the parties until 30 October 2000. By the award, John Holland was required to pay to TEC a sum of money and costs and TEC’s advance of the ICC costs together with interest on each of these sums. The total payable, not including interest, was of the order of $A40M.