The charterers had ordered the vessel to sail but her crew refused to do so, except in convoy, because of the war. A dispute arose as to whether, the charterers’ order to sail having been disobeyed, the vessel was off-hire.
Held: The appeal failed. The charterers could not bring themselves within the off-hire clause, which contained only the printed words ‘deficiency of men’. That wording meant ‘numerical insufficiency’ and resulted in the vessel being off-hire when an adequate complement of officers and crew for working the ship was not available. However, the vessel had a full complement of crew, so that, on the facts, the wording did not assist charterers. ‘Deficiency of men’ did not extend to cover a wilful refusal to work.
Citations:
(1949) 82 Ll L Rep 196
Citing:
Appeal from – Royal Greek Government v Minister of Transport (The Ann Stathatos) 1949
The ship had been chartered, but the crew refused to sail without an escort, in war conditions. The charterer sought to be excused liability under a clause making allowance for ‘insufficiency of crew’.
Held: The presumption against surplusage . .
Cited by:
Cited – Cosco Bulk Carrier Co Ltd and Another v M/V ‘Saldanha’ C/P Dated 25/06/08 ComC 11-Jun-2010
The court considered the effect of a ship being taken by pirates at sea on the obligations in the charterparty contract. The insurers said that a claim for ‘average accident’ must include an element of physical damage – absent in this case.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Transport, Insurance
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.416718
