Remoteness of Damage
remoteness of damage
The main issue regarding the concept or remoteness of damage in tort is to keep in mind that
– Initially in the law it was considered the defendant have to bear all losses no matter how remote or bizzare the loss might be (Re polemis). In this case a ship carrying petrol which leaked and created vapor got fire due to stevedore dropping wooden plank causing spark. Court ruled full damage payable by the defendant
– Then this principle changed and only damage natural and forseable are supposed to be compensated (The Wagon Mound). In this case a ship negligently discharged bunker later on causing fire and destruction of a repair dock which was not forseable therefore ship was not liable for the fire damage.
In maritime charterparty related remoteness of damage two interesting cases can be mentioned
o The Achilleas: Charterer delayed redelivery, causing owner to loss on a follow-on charter as per the claim. So owner claimed loss for the full period of the follow-on charter which denied by the court as this is not normal or expected by the charter. Instead court ruled damaged only for the dalyed period
o The Sylvia: In this case, Charterer sub-chartered the vessel but missed the sub-charter laycan due to hold problem resulting cancellation of the sub-charter. Main Charterer claimed for loss compensation and court ruled in favour as this is natural, forseable, limited financial not speculative.
November 2, 2026
November 2, 2026
November 2, 2026
November 2, 2026
