Mitsui & Co Ltd and Others v Beteiligungsgesellschaft LPG Tankerflotte mbH & Co KG and Another (The “Longchamp”) – Court of Appeal (Kitchin and Hamblen LJJ and Sir Timothy Lloyd) [2016] EWCA Civ 708 – 13 July 2016

General average – Vessel seized by pirates in Gulf of Aden – Negotiations for payment of ransom – Whether expenses incurred by shipowner during period of negotiations allowable in general average – Whether cost of bunker consumption an “expense”

On 29 January 2009 Somali pirates forcibly took possession of the chemical carrier Longchamp in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel was fully laden with the claimants’ cargo of vinyl chloride monomer in bulk. The pirates demanded a ransom of US$6 million. On 22 March 2009 a ransom payment of US$1.85 million was agreed by the shipowner (the owners) and was paid five days later.