Industrial leather gloves were shipped from Calcutta to Rotterdam. On arrival the good were found to be wet, stained, mouldy and discoloured.
Held: The damage had been caused by moisture, which had been absorbed by the goods in the humid atmosphere of Calcutta and had then evaporated and condensed on the top of the container, before falling back on the goods and damaging them. The proximate cause of the damage was external to the goods, even if a characteristic of the goods had helped to create that external cause; and that accordingly the insurer’s defence of inherent vice failed.
Judges:
Phillips J
Citations:
[1989] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 527
Cited by:
Appeal from – T M Noten BV v Harding CA 1990
Bingham LJ wasasked as to what was meant by the proximate cause of an accident at sea, and said: ‘Unchallenged and unchallengeable authority shows that this is a question to be answered applying the common sense of a business or seafaring man.’ . .
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: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insurance
Updated: 02 May 2022; Ref: scu.428506
