Atlasnavios-Navegacao, LDA v Navigators Insurance Co
Ltd and Ors (The "B Atlantic") (2016) 2 Lloyds Rep
351
At first instance it was held that the owners of the vessel were
entitled to recover for a constructive total loss following the
confiscation of their vessel by Venezuelan authorities. The
confiscation had taken place when, on completion of loading of a
cargo of coal in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, for discharge in Italy,
the vessel was subject to an underwater inspection by divers who
discovered three bags of cocaine strapped to the vessel's hull.
That had occurred on 13 August 2007. The vessel was detained on 16
August 2007 and the crew were arrested. The master and second
officer were charged with complicity in the drug smuggling. A
notice of abandonment was served on 18 June 2008 and the vessel
remained in detention until after the trial of the two officers who
were convicted in August 2010 and the Court ordered the
confiscation of the vessel.
