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Alize 1954 and another (Appellants) v Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG and others (Respondents)
Case summary
Case ID
UKSC/2020/0071
Parties
Appellant(s)
Alize 1954
CMA CGM SA
Respondent(s)
Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG and others
Issue
Whether seaworthiness for the purposes of Article III Rule 1 of the Hague-Visby Rules includes navigational decisions taken by the crew taken prior to commencement of a voyage.
Facts
The Appellants are the owners of the ship CMA CGM LIBRA; the Respondents are cargo interests. The ship was run aground shortly after leaving Xiamen en route to Hong Kong. The grounding occurred due to a series of errors in navigation by the master of the ship during a manoeuvre which took him outside the buoyed fairway running from the port. The master was following a passage plan, made before the voyage, which was defective in that it did not provide proper details warning of the existence of depths less than charted outside the fairway. The judge at first instance held the errors in the passage plan were causative of the master’s errors. The question is whether the errors in the passage plan were such as to make the CMA CGM LIBRA unseaworthy.
Date of issue
30 March 2020
Judgment appealed
Judgment details
Judgment date
10 November 2021
Neutral citation
[2021] UKSC 51
Judgment links
Judgment summary
10 November 2021
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Full hearing
Start date
7 July 2021
End date
8 July 2021
Watch hearings
7 July 2021 - Morning session
7 July 2021 - Afternoon session
8 July 2021 - Morning session
8 July 2021 - Afternoon session
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Last updated 16 April 2024