Suez Fortune Investments Ltd and Another v Talbot Underwriting Ltd and Others (The “Brillante Virtuoso”) – QBD (Comm Ct) (Teare J) [2019] EWHC 2599 (Comm) – 7 October 2019

Marine insurance – War risks – Whether wilful misconduct on part of shipowner – Piracy – Malicious acts – Breach of warranty – Warranty of legality – Rights of mortgagee bank as co-assured

On 5 July 2011 the vessel Brillante Virtuoso was drifting in the Gulf of Aden in the course of a voyage from Ukraine to China carrying a cargo of fuel oil. Her master had received instructions to embark an unarmed security team of three at Aden to assist the master and crew as the vessel proceeded through the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden and then on towards India.