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The Claims Review - Issue 8

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Large claims for negligence do not necessarily result from a badly run office or badly trained staff.  As the claims on this page illustrate, minor errors or omissions can have catastrophic consequences.

Claims Review 8

31/05/1999

Fax to a wrong number – US$ 500,000

A liner agent booked a reconditioned soft drink bottling plant packed in 16 containers from Rotterdam to India.  The plant had been carefully dismantled, overhauled, and each component packed in numbered sequence for...

31/05/1999

A simple switch of words – US$150,000

A seller instructed a sale and purchase broker to find a buyer for two sister ships “with both spare propeller and tail-shaft available”.  The broker passed this to the buyer as “two sister ships for sale … both with spare...

31/05/1999

Message on mobile – US$900,000

When fixing a tanker to carry vegoil the charterer asked whether the tanks had been washed.  The owner’s broker telephoned the charterer’s broker to inform him that the tanks had been “washed but not fresh water...

31/05/1999

Wrong line – US$250,000

An Antwerp agent booked 83 containers of vegetable oil to Blantyre, but wrongly quoted the rate for Bloemfontein.  The difference in freight amounted to US$ 250,000.  The shipper (not unnaturally) accepted the quote and...

31/05/1999

Wrong number – US$150,000

A U.S. liner agent when keying into his computer details of special instructions to the line’s terminal for the care and handling of containerised cargo, entered a “3” instead of an “8” when recording the number of a container to...

31/05/1999

Yet another wrong number – US$600,000

An agent mixed up two container numbers on the line’s stowage plan, which resulted in dangerous cargo, which should have been carried on deck, being stowed under deck.  When the ship reached the hub port, smoke was emerging...

31/05/1999

Not one but two packages

The Spanish agent for a shipping line arranged for a container which held two separate packages each containing 322 radio cassette recorders shipped from Hong Kong to be loaded on a feeder ship from a Spanish port to the final...

31/05/1999

Misrepresentation of charterers

A London ship broker acting for a Turkish charterer, arranged a fixture, through an intermediate broker in Denmark, of a ship to load bagged urea at Istanbul.  The charterer provided information about his financial...

31/05/1999

Too broad in the beam

A ship was fixed, via an Italian ship broker, to carry steel pipes from Toronto to Garston, United Kingdom.  The day after the fixture had been concluded it was realised that the Italian broker had given the discharge port...

31/05/1999

Commercial manager caught by “scatter gun”

The sinking of a cargo ship with tragic loss of life resulted in large claims by the bereaved families.  As the port of loading had been in the USA,  an American lawyer, employing the usual “scatter gun” approach,...

31/05/1999

Technical manager caught by “smoking gun”

The technical manager of a tanker which he had managed for three years, found himself on the receiving end of a claim from the owner for US$ 1,400,000.  Multiple claims were made, mostly without any particular merit,...

31/05/1999

The high cost of winning

One of the most important aspects of ITIC’s insurance is the payment of legal costs.  Even if the  Member has absolutely no liability for the claim against him, a defence has to be prepared and the costs can be...

31/05/1999

Warm orange juice

When port employees went on strike at a South American port, 50 containers of orange juice had to wait two weeks on the dock until the next ship sailed.  The sheer volume of reefer cargo which congested the strike-bound port...

31/05/1999

The quality of wheat

A firm of cargo superintendents sampled a shipment of wheat bound for France.  The samples were sent to a laboratory for testing for various specifications, which included moisture, protein and admixture.  The samples...

31/05/1999

Wrong box

Two consignments, each of 712 cartons of children’s shoes, were carried on the same ship from Shanghai to Kotka, Finland, under two bills of lading with similar numbers.  When the Shanghai agent was authorised by the shipper...

31/05/1999

Out of date letter of guarantee

A cargo of ethyl alcohol was discharged from a ship at Hamburg in damaged condition. The cargo insurers paid the claim for damage, and obtained a letter of guarantee from the ship owner’s P&I Club.  The guarantee...