The plaintiffs claimed for damage to a cargo of 307 packages of spare parts for electric power generation machines carried from Belgium to the Philippines onboard the M/V Envoyager. The cargo arrived at the port of destination on 18 December 1993 and was delivered to the consignee the day after. The bill of lading provided for the application of the Hague-Visby Rules.

On 14 December 1994, Prudential Guarantee (Prudential), acting under an assignment of rights, filed a lawsuit in the Regional Court of Manila, the Philippines, against 'the unknown owner of M/V Envoyager' and its agent, Royal Cargo Corp (Royal). On 3 March 1995, Bauang Private Power Corp (Bauang), the consignee of the cargo filed also a lawsuit in the Philippines, against Royal and Mammoet Shipping BV, the operator of the vessel and issuer of the bill of landing.

On 11 July 1996, Prudential and Bauang filed a lawsuit for the same claim in the Maritime Court of Panama, against the shipowner, Simplax Pte Ltd, and Mammoet. The defendants alleged the one-year time bar limitation according to art 3.6 of the Hague-Visby Rules. The claimants argued that the time bar was interrupted with the presentation of the complaints in the Philippines. The Maritime Court decided that Prudential's claim was not time-barred as the claim was filed in the Philippines in due time; whereas, Bauang's claim was time-barred as it was filed after the one-year limitation period. Simplax appealed the decision.

Held: The Civil Branch of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), acting as Court of Maritime Appeals, reversed the decision, declaring that the action against Simplax was also time-barred. The SCJ asserted that, as the Hague-Visby Rules state a one-year time bar limitation counted from the moment the cargo is delivered, which was on 19 December 1993, the lawsuit filed in Panama on 11 July 1996 was far outside that period. According to the Panamanian rules of maritime procedure, a lawsuit filed in another jurisdiction has no effect in Panama regarding the interruption of time limitation.