Masefield AG v Amlin Corporate Member Ltd (The "Bunga Melati Dua") - Court of Appeal (Rix, Moore-Bick and Patten LJJ) - 26 January 2011

Marine insurance - Piracy - Vessel seized by Somali pirates - Cargo owners serving notice of abandonment during negotiations between shipowner and pirates for release of vessel - Whether cargo became actual constructive total loss at date of notice of abandonment - Whether insured entitled to rely on peril of "theft"

On 19 August 2008 the tanker Bunga Melati Dua was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel together with her crew and cargo were taken to Somali waters. The claimant was the owner of two parcels of bio-diesel which had been shipped onboard the vessel. The defendant was the insurer of the cargo under a policy that covered loss by both piracy and theft.