Definition of Reasonable endeavours
In the recent case of RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV [2024] UKSC 18, the Supreme Court stated that reasonable endeavours must be directed to performing the contractual obligations, not finding some other way to achieve a similar result.
This is in respect to force majeure circumstances. In the above case, RTI employed MUR to ship goods from Guinea to Ukraine. with payment being made in USD. Due to Russian sanctions, RTI could not pay in USD and offered MUR payment in Euros. For some reason MUR did not accept this and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court where it held that using reasonable endeavours to overcome an impediment would not include accepting non-contractual performance. MUR could not be obliged to accept an offer from RTI to perform its obligations in a manner different to the contract.
An unusual case, and one that probably is fact specific, but i suppose the takeaway is that where you are obliged to use reasonable endeavours, e.g. to complete the works by the completion date, you could not argue that the completion date should be extended?
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