Page 22 - Insurance Times December 2023

Historical

Maritime

Fraud

Dr. Soumi Mukherjee
MV Cumberland- Negligence!! A
Drawback of the Marine Insurance

“Some of the vessels on which the Insurance brokers have secured insurance will be the colour of
rust inside. That rust may be no thin veneer of oxidation but wastage so great as to render the
ship unseaworthy.”
Dr. S. Mukherjee, AFNI, AFRIN, MRINA

S hipping is a global business, involving many players judgment of the master as to his proceedings to repair

damage or sell the ship. Generally, the work of a surveyor
and different jurisdictions in any single shipment of
cargo. A simple and single shipment could involve
falls into two categories: hull & machinery surveyance and
a bunch of problems associated with pitfalls where
the unscrupulous seek to take advantage of those are not cargo surveyance.' In the broad sense of the term, the "hull
surveyor" examines the entire ship and its fixtures and
prepared. As the players are very often based in multiple appliances to determine seaworthiness. In the narrow sense
jurisdictions, and out of necessity deal with each other at of the term, a "hull surveyor" is one who inspects the
arm’s length. Through Brokers and Financial Institutions, superstructure of the ship for leaks, worn surfaces and
there is practically nil opportunity for physical checks. structural weaknesses which could cause leakage or sinking
of the vessel.
Shipping almost necessarily entails loss and injury to ships,
cargo, human life and the environment.' As a matter of A similar negligent ignorance in the survey of a vessel to
course, the shipper, carrier and maritime worker will bear keep the owner’s interest in good hope led to the torture
some of these costs. In addition, however, today's admiralty of a vessel, sinking it to the bottom of the ocean with all
courts accommodate a growing number of other parties cargo leading to the loss of the company, and the insurers.
seeking to avoid the high costs associated with lost life and The following article is the narration of such a sinking of the
environmental cleanup. These litigants include nautical vessel The Cumberland near the Pitcairn Island in 1987.
officers, marine engineers, shipbuilders, stevedores, towage
companies, and marine surveyors and classification societies. Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island in the group about
In the eyes of the law, a marine surveyor is a professional. 1,500 miles southeast of Tahiti in the South Seas. It was
In particular, the courts have defined a marine surveyor as originally populated by mutineers from the HMS Bounty in
a skilled workman whose profession "is to assist the the 19th century. The island, one- and three-quarter square

20 December 2023 The Insurance Times