Claim by the owner of the mv POLAR to recover cargo’s proportion of general average expenditure, the expenditure in question consisting of a ransom payment to pirates who had detained the vessel in the Gulf of Aden. The claim is defended by the cargo owners on the ground that the shipowner’s only remedy in the event of having to pay a ransom to pirates was to recover under the terms of insurance policies, the premium for which had been paid by the voyage charterer. Whether that is a good defence depends on the construction of the contract contained in or evidenced by the bill of lading, which incorporated the terms of the charterparty.
Lord Justice Peter Jackson,
Lord Justice Males,
And,
Sir Patrick Elias,
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[2021] EWCA Civ 1828
Bailii
England and Wales
Contract, Transport
Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.670254