A contract was entered into to deliver a specific quantity of cloth. In one case, before the seller could make delivery a super typhoon caused the destruction of the cloth and compliance was then impossible. In the second case, pipes in the sprinkler system where the material was stored froze and broke, spilling water on the cloth and destroying it. In each case, loss of the merchandise was sustained and delivery could not be made. Were the parties in these cases absolved of their obligations under the contract because of the impossibility of delivery?

Why is conciliation considered as a better way to resolve a commercial dispute than arbitration?