An insured ship should be ‘in a condition to encounter whatever perils of the sea a ship of that kind and laden in that way may be fairly expected to encounter.’ However, an express exception of negligence did not cover loss due to unseaworthiness. Lord Blackburn distinguished between (i) a port hole left open on the orlop deck with cargo piled up high against it, where no one could see whether the port hole had been left open or not, in circumstances where it would require a great deal to time to remove the cargo; and (ii) a porthole left open in a cabin which could be shut at a moment’s notice as soon as the sea became rough. In the latter case the vessel would not be unfit to encounter the perils of the voyage because the matter could be set right within a few minutes and ‘if they did not put it right after such a warning, that would be negligence on the part of the crew, and not unseaworthiness of the ship’.
Judges:
Lord Blackburn
Citations:
(1877) 3 AC 72
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Global Process Systems Inc and Another v Berhad SC 1-Feb-2011
An oil rig (The Cendor MOPU) was being transported from Texas to Malaysia. During the voyage, three of the four legs suffered damage. The insurers refused liability saying that the damage was the result of inherent weaknesses in the rig.
Held: . .
Cited – J J Lloyd Instruments Ltd v Northern Star Insurance Co Ltd ‘The Miss Jay Jay’ 1985
Mustill J considered liability under a marine insurance where damage was suffered when the sea state was within what might reasonably be anticipated: ‘The cases make it quite plain that if the action of the wind or sea is the immediate cause of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insurance
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.428509