Senior Recreational Clubhouse ("SRC") is a company that organises recreational activities for its customers (who are mostly elderly people), to help them stay active, healthy and socially engaged.

Scenario 1: Trip to Pulau Ubin

One of the activities organised by SRC was a trip to Pulau Ubin, an island to the northwest of Singapore, to observe the local wildlife at the Chek Jawa wetlands. SRC chartered a boat with Fast Ferries ("FF"), for the purpose of transporting the participants to Pulau Ubin. The boat charter fee was $2,000 and it was paid in advance by SRC to FF. However, one day before the event, the boat operated by FF was struck by lightning. It caught fire as a result, and was destroyed. Therefore, FF could not fulfil their contractual obligations to SRC.

Scenario 2: Trip to a local cake factory

A separate activity organised by SRC was a tour of a local cake factory. For this activity, SRC chartered a bus from a bus company called Busy Buses ("BB"), to transport the participants from SRC's premises to the cake factory. The bus charter fee was $1,000 (for a two-way trip) and it was to be paid at the end of the event. However, due to BB's poor maintenance, the bus was not operable on the day of the event, and BB could not fulfil their contractual obligations to SRC.

Examine the circumstances in the two scenarios separately and explain if SRC's charter contracts with:

i. FF (i.e. the contract for the charter of the boat); and

ii. BB (i.e. the contract for the charter of the bus),

would be discharged by the doctrine of frustration.

In your answer, please also briefly state the consequences of a contract that is discharged by frustration, under the Frustrated Contracts Act, and explain whether SRC can recover the boat charter fee of $2,000 from FF.