COURT LINE, LTD. v. THE KING.

(1944) 78 Ll.L.Rep. 390

COURT OF APPEAL.

Before Lord Justice Scott, Lord Justice du Parcq and Mr. Justice Stable.

Charter-party-Hire-Cesser of hire-Constructive total loss - Suppliants' ship under charter to H.M. Government under T.99 A-Ship torpedoed in Atlantic Ocean while in convoy on July 18, 1942- Abandonment by master and crew - Master's opinion that ship would not survive long tow-Steps taken to salve ship by naval officers in charge of convoy-Ship taken in tow by tugs-Sudden foundering on Aug. 1 after towage for 500 miles- Petition of right claiming hire from July 18 until sinking-"If the ship be lost, hire shall be paid up to and inclusive of the day of loss, or, if missing, up to and inclusive of the day last spoken. Should the vessel become a constructive total loss such loss shall be deemed to have occurred and the hire under this contract shall cease as from the day of the casualty resulting in such loss"-Contentions by Crown: that ship became constructive total loss on July 18; that the damage suffered by the ship, coupled with the fact of abandonment by the master and crew, who were paid off, created a frustration, or amounted to a repudiation of the charter by the owners; and that as the owners had received payment from their insurers on the basis of a total loss on July 18, they had therefore divested themselves of ownership on that date-Marine Insurance Act, 1906, Sects. 57, 60 (1), (2), 61, 62, 63.