The general principles of the law of marine insurance, whether codified, statutory or common law, are largely permissive and not peremptory law. They apply in the absence of an agreement to the contrary by the parties to the marine insurance contract. Those principles represent the default position. In practice, the parties more often than not come to some contrary arrangement. They do so for a variety of reasons, such as perceiving those principles unsuited to their needs or simply out of date. The terms contained in marine insurance contracts are therefore of considerable importance, none the more so when, through general acceptance and widespread adoption, they have become standardised not only nationally but also internationally. Then they acquire the status of quasi-law and their meaning, interpretation and effect become particularly significant. That is what has happened to the Institute Cargo Clauses. Although English in origin, they are internationally employed in marine cargo insurance practice. Any textbook on the meaning and interpretation of those clauses will therefore be particularly useful to the practitioners of marine cargo insurance, and even more so when it treats their latest version.

This is precisely where John Dunt’s Marine Cargo Insurance fills the gap. The Institute Cargo Clauses were revised in 2009 and will, at least for the time being, run parallel with the 1982 version, parties being free to adopt any form (as they are, in fact, still free to adopt the earlier, 1963, version). Dunt’s work therefore wisely treats both versions, its central theme being a commentary on the clauses and a comparison, where relevant, of the changes brought about by the revised version.

These changes are often fine, appearing to involve no more than a rearrangement and some editorial changes. However, as Dunt’s incisive analysis fortunately makes clear, appearances may be deceptive. Occasionally, for all their apparent subtlety, the changes are significantly more than cosmetic. Examples include the issue of causation, in particular the “causation triggers” (see §§ 7.30–7.55); the scope of cover provided by the all-risks version of the clauses, in particular the exclusion involving the insufficiency of packing (§§ 8.28–8.36), the exclusions concerning insolvency and financial default (§§ 8.50–8.59) and the revisions pertaining to unseaworthiness (§§ 8.63–8.81); the provision and exclusion of terrorism coverage (§§ 10.42–10.53); and the duration of cover (in chapters 11 and 12).

For all its focus on contract terms, Dunt’s text is not merely a dry, academic amble through the relevant clauses. He treats the various topics of the law of marine (cargo) insurance in the traditional sequence (starting with the history and definition and ending with subrogation, double insurance and contribution) and his concise but solid and sometimes incisive exposition of the general principles underlying the various terms renders the work much more than a mere commentary on the Institute Cargo Clauses: it is, for the most part, a practical textbook on the law of marine cargo insurance in the fullest sense of the word. Also laudable is Dunt’s sense of history: the current clauses are placed in their proper context by providing the necessary background and referring to earlier versions and

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