Darya Bhakti [2013] 2 HKLRD 926
The quantification of damages for the loss of use of a ship
damaged in collision where her owner maintains and substitutes a
reserve ship for his damaged ship came up for determination
recently in Hong Kong, and in the modern day setting of a liner
operation run by a consortium of container ship owners. The case in
question was The Darya Bhakti in the Hong Kong Court of
Appeal.
Reserve ships
Liner operators of container ships are committed to providing
regular services with scheduled sailing times and port rotations.
In order to maintain such services, they must have similar, and
ideally identical, ships available as replacements to provide cover
for those occasions when one of the ships in service has to be
withdrawn for repair. In earlier years, a suitable replacement ship
would often be readily available in the market for short-term
charter but the option of chartering-in has become considerably
more difficult with the
