Marine insurance: Institute War Clauses

The Institute War Clauses for Hulls provide coverage for seizure, but contain a series of exceptions. One which has been litigated a number of times in recent years is that in clause 4.1.5, namely “arrest restraint detainment confiscation or expropriation under quarantine regulations or by reason of infringement of any customs or trading regulations”.

The meaning of that provision in the context of a detainment based on an infringement of which the assured claimed it and the crew were unaware was tested before Hamblen J in Atlas Navios-Navegação Lda v Navigators Insurance Co Ltd (The B Atlantic) [2012] EWHC 802 (Comm).