Twelve years after Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vindhyagiri sank following a collision with a merchant vessel, the Bombay High Court has ruled that the container carrier was entitled to limit its liability for the losses and damages due to the accident to nearly Rs 30 crore.
The court limited the liability of the owner of Merchant Vessel Nordlake (MV Nordlake) for all claims to 27,89,234 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), equivalent to around Rs 30 crore, against the Central government’s claim of Rs 1,397 crore.
A single bench of Justice N J Jamadar in an order passed last week held that the right of a ship owner to limit his liability under section 352A of the Merchant Shipping Act was “absolute and regardless of whether the ship owner was at fault or not”.
The court added that the principal sum of the SDR shall carry interest at the rate of 12.75 per cent per annum from January 30, 2011 (date of collision) till February 2023.
The bench, however, stayed its order for six weeks so that the Centre could approach the Supreme Court in appeal.
On January 30, 2011, MV Nordlake was exiting the Mumbai port when a convoy of 14 naval ships including INS Vindhyagiri was entering the harbour. The two vessels (MV Nordlake and INS Vindhyagiri) collided after which the naval ship was berthed at the port. It sank the next day.
MV Nordlake, owned by a German company, claimed that it was closed upon by three approaching vessels at the time and INS Vindhyagiri and another ship in the convoy did not move to their left which was contrary to the agreed plan.
The confusion resulted in the collision, the owner claimed in HC.
The Central government filed a suit for the “arrest” (seizure) of MV Nordlake and claimed damages of Rs 1,397 crore. The vessel owner in 2014 filed a suit in HC seeking to limit its liability.
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