Mediterranean Freight Services Ltd v BP Oil International Ltd (The Fiona)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Nourse,Hirst,Hoffmann L JJ |
| Judgment Date | 07 July 1994 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Date | 07 July 1994 |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Nourse, Lord Justice Hirst and Lord Justice Hoffmann
Shipping - dangerous cargo - shipowners' indemnity subject to safety duty
A shipowner who failed to make his vessel seaworthy lost his right to indemnities from the owners of a dangerous fuel oil cargo shipped on the vessel.
The shipowners' rights under Article IV, rule 6 of the Hague-Visby Rules, scheduled to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, were subject to the performance by him of the overriding duty under Article III, rule 1, to make the ship seaworthy.
The Court of Appeal so held in a reserved judgment dismissing an appeal by Mediterranean Freight Services Ltd, the owners of the tanker The Fiona, from the dismissal by Judge Diamond, QC, sitting as a judge of the Commercial Court of the Queen's Bench Division ((1993) 1 Lloyd's Rep 257), of their claim for damages and indemnities against the defendants, BP Oil International Ltd.
Mr Stewart Boyd, QC and Mr Nicholas Hamblin for the plaintiffs; Mr Michael Harvey, QC and Mr Simon Crookenden for the defendants.
LORD JUSTICE HIRST said that on August 31, 1988, the plaintiffs' tanker, on charter to the defendants, was preparing to discharge her cargo at an off-shore platform near Northport, New York. A surveyor on board to take ullage soundings and temperature readings, inserted an unearthed electronic probe into No 1 tank which then exploded causing the surveyor's death and severe damage in the vessel.
The plaintiffs claimed on the ground that the defendants' cargo of fuel oil was of a dangerous character as a result of which the plaintiffs were entitled to the relief provided by Article IV, rule 6 of the Hague-Visby Rules for damages arising out of the shipment.
After trial the judge held:
1 That the defendants had shipped a dangerous fuel oil, having a tendency to give off light hydrocarbon gases in tank head spaces. That was one of the causes of the explosion and as the plaintiffs had never consented to shipment of a dangerous cargo they were in principle entitled to rely on Article IV, rule 6;
2 That the fuel oil in No 1 tank had been contaminated by the highly volatile condensate left on board from a previous voyage which was the dominant and most efficient cause of the explosion. As a result, the plaintiffs had failed to exercise due diligence to render the vessel...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Compania Sud Americana De Vapores SA v Sinochem Tianjin Import & Export Corporation
...In view of the provisions of Article IV, rule 6 it is doubtful whether any implied indemnity is applicable. 54 In Mediterranean Freight Services v BP Oil (The “Fiona”) [1993] 1 Ll. Rep. 257 at 268 Judge Diamond, QC, identified what a carrier has to prove in order to recover: “In my view it ......
-
Total Transport Corporation v Arcadia Petroleum Ltd
...Ltd v Canterbury City CouncilWLR [1980] 1 WLR 433. Erechthion, TheUNK [1987] 2 Ll Rep 180. Fiona, TheUNK [1993] 2 Ll Rep 257, QBD; [1994] CLC 808; [1994] 2 Ll Rep 506, CA Galoo Ltd v Bright Grahame MurrayUNK [1994] BCC 319; [1994] 1 WLR 1360. Hadley v BaxendaleENR (1854) 9 Exch 341. Hanen T......
-
Anne Mitchell+karin Mitchell (aps) V. Glasgow City Council
...the duty does not extend to taking precautions against arsonists. In other contexts there might be such a duty (compare The Fiona [1994] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 506, 522) but the law of negligence would not impose one." [92] In Smith v Littlewoods, Lord Goff cited the same dictum of Lord Sumner in W......
-
Northern Shipping Company v Deutsche Seereederei G.m.b.H. (Kapitan Sakharov)
... ... into that country; that the savings, if any, in freight charges for the carriage of declared dangerous cargoes were ... The international standards as to seaworthiness were those embodied in the ... He applied The Fiona [1994] 2 Ll.R 506, CA ; Canada Steamship Line Ltd. v ... Ingram & Royle Ltd. v. Services Maritimes Du Treport [1913] 1 KB 538 , per Scrutton J at ... ...