China Taiping Insurance Co., Ltd. Tianjin Branch v. Ningbo Shuxing Shipping Co., Ltd.

Abstract

The Plaintiff, a subrogated cargo insurer, sued the Defendant shipowner in relation to total loss of insured cargo of steel as a result of sinking of the Defendant’s ship after it had been struck while at anchor by another ship. The Plaintiff sought to recover 5% of the cargo losses from the Defendant, on the basis that this was the Defendant’s share of responsibility for the sinking. The Plaintiff argued that the Defendant had overloaded the ship on the voyage involved, which was a direct cause of the sinking of the ship and cargo. The Defendant countered that the ship was not in fact overloaded, and even if it was, this did not cause the collision. The court held that the Defendant was not liable for two reasons. Firstly, the Defendant was not responsible at all for the collision In a separate trial, the court adopted the findings of the maritime safety administration’s investigation of the collision and held that the other vessel was 100% responsible for the accident. Secondly, the Plaintiff had failed to prove that the ship was overloaded, and even if the ship had been overloaded, there was nothing to suggest that that directly caused the accident or increased the losses resulting from it. Therefore, the court rejected the Plaintiff’s claims.