Builders' risks - Co-insurance and waiver of liability

BMT Marine & Offshore Survey Ltd v Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH [2011]
Commercial Court, 24 January 2011

Where a Claimant (A) sues Defendant (B) the latter may deny liability on the grounds of lack of any wrongdoing. Alternatively, B may accept liability for breach of duty but he may contend that the loss was, at least in part, also the result of wrongdoing on the part of C, either by way of breach of C's contract with the Claimant or as a joint tortfeasor. The result is that C may be held liable to contribute to the damages payable to the Claimant, under a mechanism governed in England by the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 ("the 1978 Act").

The present case concerned a fire at a shipyard belonging to Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH ('LWB'), which occurred while repair and conversion work was being carried out on the vessel m/v 'CALA PALMA'. The vessel suffered significant damage in the fire.

The conversion works were being undertaken pursuant to a contract between Owners and LWB, which provided for German law and for the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Hamburg.

Lawyers Anthony Menzies, James Crabtree, Susannah Wakefield, Peter Kempe, Jonathan Rogers, Dr. Gunbritt Kammerer-Galahn, Franz Janssen, Dr. Astrid Wagner, Wolfgang Schaller, Alain de Foucaud, Christine Flion, Christopher Dixon