Admiralty Court persuaded that a vessel was scuttled

Kairos Shipping Ltd and Another v Enka & Co LLC and Others (The “Atlantik Confidence”) [2016] 1 Lloyd’s Rep Plus 73, [2016] EWHC 2412 (Admlty), 11 October 2016

The Admiralty Court had to consider whether the claimant shipowner was barred from claiming a limitation decree under the Convention on Limitation for Liability of Maritime Claims 1976 for cargo loss arising from the sinking of its vessel. The vessel sank four days after a fire broke out in the engine room, and the subrogated insurers of the cargo argued that the shipowner could not rely on the limitation of liability because the loss resulted from the shipowner’s personal act or omission, committed with the intent to cause such loss (article 4 of the Convention). The shipowner argued that there was no such evidence, and there was a plausible explanation that it was an accident.