MCKEEVER V NORTHERNREEF INSURANCE CO SA

Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Julia Dias QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, 22 May 2019

Insurance (marine) – Perils of the seas – Piracy – Suing and labouring – Breach of warranty – Unseaworthiness – Negligence – Marine Insurance Act 1906, sections 33, 39 and 55

LM owned and lived on a 15-metre sailing yacht, Creola. On 19 March 2014 the yacht ran aground on a reef in the Sulu Sea. The hull had not been breached so there was little water inside, but the yacht could not be refloated and LM abandoned her, having secured and padlocked the hatches. LM returned the following day to find that the yacht had been looted. The yacht was towed to a shipyard and it was there found that water to the depth of six inches had entered a section of the yacht. The insurers under a time policy denied liability.