Fire on board because of unseaworthiness?

çobantur Turizm Ticaret ve Nakliyat Ltd v UN Ro-Ro Işletmeleri AŞ (The 'UND Adriyatik') Hague-Visby Rules – Unseaworthiness – Fire – Navigational fault

Professor Vehbi S Ataergin, maritime consultant and visiting scholar, Institute of Maritime Law, University of Southampton

The facts

A ro-ro carrier, UND Adriyatik, owned by the defendants UN Ro-Ro Işletmeleri Aş, was halfway between Port Pendik (Istanbul) in Turkey and Trieste in Italy, on 6 February 2008 in Croatian waters in the Adriatic Sea. At 05.30, a fire signal appeared on the bridge’s control panel. As it was not clear if this was a real alarm, the chief mate sent one crew member from the bridge and one from the engine room down to check as fast as they could. A fire, the cause of which was unknown, was raging on the main deck where trucks were carried.