The Representative of Lloyd's and Ors v Classic Sailing Adventures (Pty) Ltd (The "Mieke") - Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (Harms, Lewis, Cachalia and Malan JJA and Griesel AJA) - 31 May 2010

Marine insurance - Schooner sinking off coast of Mozambique - Insurers declining to pay out on hull policy - Parties expressly agreeing that law governing insurance policy should be English law - Whether parties entitled to contract out of mandatory provisions of South African law - Whether sinking caused by insured risk - Whether material non-disclosure or misrepresentation - Whether voyage illegal - Costs - Whether trial judge erred in awarding successful defendant insurance brokers only half their costs

Classic Sailing owned the schooner Mieke which was insured with Lloyd’s under a hull policy expressly governed by English law and which covered loss or damage to the vessel caused inter alia, by any latent defect in the machinery or hull, provided that the loss or damage was not the result of “want of due diligence by the Assured, Owners or Managers”. The Mieke was built in 1997 originally as a motorised yacht used for fishing. In 2003 she was converted into a charter yacht.