Coronavirus mini-series: (8) cruises

Cruise ships – with their enclosed areas, increased exposure to new environments, and limited onboard medical resources – were always going to be susceptible to increased risk and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. In this blog, Alex Carington of 12 King’s Bench Walk considers the potential liability of cruise ship operators…

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Montreal Convention Claims: Fixed Costs Do Not Apply

Two recent County Court decisions (Mead v British Airways Plc (Unreported) Manchester County Court, 15 January 2018 and McKendry v British Airways Plc (Unreported) Liverpool County Court, 7 June 2018) have come to identical conclusions that personal injury claims under the Montreal Convention do not engage the EL/PL Pre-action Protocol. The result is that these…

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The Norwegian Jade – Athens Convention, “Carriage”

In this blog, David Green of 12 King’s Bench Walk considers the recently-reported application for permission to hearing of Lawrence v NCL (Bahamas) Ltd, the Norwegian Jade [2017] EWCA Civ 2222. The case deals with a novel point of construction of the Athens Convention 1974, concerning the liability of a sea carrier for injuries sustained…

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Cruise and Maritime Services International Limited v Navigators Underwriting Agency Limited [2017] EWHC 843 (Comm) – Athens Convention, Insurance

This blog post is by James Beeton of 12 King’s Bench Walk. In this short but interesting judgment, Knowles J considered the liability of insurance underwriters in the context of sums paid out by a cruise company following a sickness outbreak on a cruise ship. His judgment emphasises the centrality in disputes of this nature of the contractual relationship between the…

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