US/Canada Fishing Vessel Claim
Case Study
Machinery Failure
Instruction from
Opponent Party
Repair Contractor
Claim Type
Total loss due to fire at repair berth
Claim Amount
$600,000 USD
The coastal fishing vessel, which was undergoing repair works at a berth in Canada, caught fire and became a total loss. Our firm, on behalf of client H&M underwriters, filed a claim against the repair contractors for negligence in their staff’s conduct of “hotwork” on the vessel. Although our client was partially at fault for not adequately preparing the work area on the vessel, we were able to reach a mutually acceptable settlement at 70% of the original claim. This resulted in a recovery of more than US$400,000 for the client.
If you have a Fishing Vessel claim
& require some assistance
Deep Sea Fishing Vessel Claim
Case Study
Collision
Instruction from
Asian Owners
Opponent Party
Opposing vessel/P&I Club
Claim Type
Damages & lost fishing revenue
Claim Amount
$400,000 USD
This was a “hit and run” collision in the early hours of the morning in the Malacca Straits. As the identity of the colliding vessel was unknown, we first had to track her down with the limited information available from our crew. This was achieved by extensive AIS and Lloyd’s Intelligence research. When we were finally able to identify and contact the colliding vessels’ P&I Club, we first negotiated the apportionment of liability for the collision with them (65:35 in our favour); and then presented our claim. This included a significant element of the Owner’s uninsured losses, as the vessel was laden with US$3m of Tuna fish at the time, some 6x the vessel market value. We finally achieved a net recovery of over US$250,000 for the client.
If you have a Fishing Vessel claim
& require some assistance
Fishing Vessel Claim (UK)
Case Study
Machinery Failure
Instruction from
Broker
Opponent Party
Repair Contractor’s Liability Insurers
Claim Type
Machinery (Gearbox) failure
Claim Amount
£20,000
Our client’s vessel had only just resumed fishing activities following a routine drydocking when she suffered an engine failure and had to be towed back into port in the UK. Our investigations revealed a shoddy repair by one of the shipyard’s subcontractors.
Despite numerous defences raised by the said contractor under their standard terms and conditions, we eventually managed to open a settlement dialogue with their liability insurers; and managed in the end to recover a lump sum of almost £6,000 towards their losses.