Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter
Grupo Protexa S.A. and anr v. All American Marine Slip and others - U.S. Ct. of Appeals (3rd Circuit) (Becker and Alito C.JJ. and Huyett D.J.) - 3 February 1992
Marine insurance - Whether removal of sunken vessel “compulsory by law” - Whether plaintiffs acted as prudent assureds
The plaintiff assureds sought to recover the cost of removing a sunken vessel. The marine insurance policy covered removal
costs if the removal was “compulsory by law”. The defendant insurers denied the claim. The district court held that the removal
was not “compulsory by law” and that the plaintiffs had not acted as prudent assureds when proceeding with the removal of
the wreck. On appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals: