Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
OIL POLLUTION AND PURE ECONOMIC LOSS DECIDED
Landcatch
v. Braer Corporation
The law in the United Kingdom in relation to the extent of the liability of tanker owners under the Convention Concerning Civil Liability for Oil Pollution now appears, in part, to be settled. The three-month period during which the pursuer (plaintiff) had to decide whether to appeal to the House of Lords in the conjoined cases of Landcatch Ltd
v. The Braer Corporation and Assuranceforeningen Skuld
and Landcatch
v. The International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund
1
has expired without incident. The decision of the Inner House (Appeal Court) of the Scottish Court of Session stands. The owners of the tanker, their insurers and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund were held not liable for the pursuer’s loss of profits caused by the escape of the oil carried by the Braer
.
The Inner House unanimously affirmed the first instance decision of the Lord Ordinary, Lord Gill,2
the judge appointed to hear all the claims arising out of the grounding of the motor tanker Braer
at Shetland in January 1993. Almost 85,000 tonnes of crude escaped. The pursuer, a mainland based supplier of smolt, claimed £1,900,000 for profits said to have been lost in 1993 and 1994, attributed to the fall in demand for Shetland salmon following the spill. The plaintiff also claimed for the expenses in pursuing their claim
CASE AND COMMENT
17