Mitsui & Co Ltd & others v. Beteiligungsgesellschaft
LPG Tankerflotte MBH & Co KG (Longchamp) [2014]
EWHC 3445
The recent judgment in the Longchamp has overturned
accepted industry thinking in how bunkers and crew wages are dealt
with in a hijacking. Not only has it wrong-footed lawyers, but it
flies in the face of the written and considered views of the
Advisory Committee of the Association of Average Adjustors and
opens up interesting questions on other heads of claim not
considered in the judgment.
The Judge was asked to consider whether a number of items
(familiar to anyone who has dealt with a Somali hijacking case)
were recoverable in General Average ("GA"). These
included: media response services, crew wages, bunkers and
telephone charges. The hijacking took place in January 2009, lasted
just under two months and resulted in a ransom of US$1,850,000. The
total amount of expenses in issue was a modest US$181,604,
reflecting the short duration of the
