Judge Jesse Furman
Under their 2004, agreement, The Rice Company (TRC) chartered Precious Flowers’ ship for six months. TRC then entered a separate charter with Peru. Both charters called for arbitration of disputes in New York under the Rules of the Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA). Two arbitration proceedings arose from a shipment of wheat from Texas to Peru. In the firstunder way before a full arbitral panelPrecious Flowers sought to recover money from TRC. In the second, TRC sought to recover from Peru any money it was required to pay Precious Flowers. Despite rules calling for consolidation of proceedings, Peru refused to consent to consolidation. TRC moved to stay the first proceeding pending a decision on its motion to compel consolidation. The court denied the stay motion, finding that TRC did not show likely success on the merits. It determined that the issue of the proceedings’ consolidation was a question for the arbitrators, and turned on the SMA’s rules. Further, TRC failed to show an actual or imminent irreparable injury absent a stay. Additionally, a stay would harm Precious Flowers, which has already, through no fault of its own, endured delay in obtaining resolution of its claim against TRC.
