Insurer granted injunction blocking $3m lawsuit following barge sinking

Insurer granted injunction blocking $3m lawsuit following barge sinking | Insurance Business New Zealand

Marine

Survey of the sunk barge revealed a “number of concerns”

Marine

By
Kenneth Araullo

A New Zealand court has granted the Maritime Mutual Insurance Association an injunction that blocks a $3 million lawsuit following the sinking of a barge near Trinidad in 2018. The barge, owned by Silica Sandport, was part of an insurance claim seeking US$1.176 million in compensation in May 2019.

However, a survey report from Maritime Mutual found “a number of concerns” despite being inconclusive, according to a newly released decision from the Auckland High Court. While investigations were ongoing, Silica Sandport and its owner, the Guyana-based Sri Commodities Import and Export, failed to pay premiums that were due after the sinking, leading to the cancellation of the policy in April 2021.

A report from the NZ Herald revealed that the Guyanese companies then raised numerous allegations of breach of agency and fiduciary duty, conflict of interest, and fraud and misrepresentation, according to Justice Ian Gault, who is presiding over the case.

December 2021 saw the companies starting to build their case against the insurer in the High Court in Guyana, a move that apparently breached the contract between the barge owners and the insurer. Gault said that there was a “high degree of probability” that an agreement in the insurance policy meant that disputes had to be settled under arbitration laws in New Zealand or England as opposed to the barge owner’s territory of Guyana.

“The anti-suit injunction is a long-recognised species of equitable injunction that restrains a defendant from pursuing proceedings overseas that are vexatious or oppressive,” Gault said.

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