Is positional loss recoverable? Louis Dreyfus Commodities Suisse SA v MT Maritime Management BV (The "MTM Hong Kong") [2015] EWHC 2505 (Comm)

Departing from the prima facie rule originally set out in the case of Smith v M'Guire (1858) 3 H & N 544, Males J awarded the shipowner damages for positional loss. It was held that a failure to award such damages would be contrary to the compensatory principle.

Males J held that, where necessary, there is no reason why, in calculating damages for repudiatory breach of voyage charter, one could not include events arising after the completion date of the contracted voyage to assess the loss. The decision to award such damages is of wide commercial importance and raises difficult legal questions connected to the doctrines of foreseeability and remoteness.