Differing judgements could influence class selection

According to Simon Tatham, a partner at leading international maritime law firm Wikborg Rein, shipping has seen a number of different judgments in cases involving

the

alleged negligence of classification societies

and

also

the

duty of care owed by class to third parties such as

the

buyers of vessels for which class certificates have been issued.

Tatham cited

the

Prestige in

the

United States

and

the

Erika in France, among o

the

rs, as cases which had given rise to differing views about whe

the

r class could be held legally accountable. The common law jurisdictions such as

the

US

and

UK have tended to protect classification societies. However, said Tatham, “There are jurisdictions where it is perceived that a legal action against a classification society would be more likely to succeed due to

the

rulings which have been passed down in

the

past. As a result, we can expect to see an increase in forum-shopping as plaintiffs look to have

the

ir case heard in those jurisdictions which are deemed to be

the

most favourable.”

Tatham said that

the

historical perception of classification societies as non-profit-making providers of support to

the

insurance market to help ensure

the

seaworthiness of vessels was now outdated,

and

that today

the

re was pressure on class to provide additional services

and

to deliver big profits, in

the

process becoming acquisition targets

the

mselves.

Meanwhile, he noted that

the

impact of changes to

the

limitation of liability conventions in recent years had, broadly speaking, been a good thing for classification societies because

the

higher amounts which shipowners were required to pay meant that it was less likely that class – against whom legal proceedings have historically been started only after everybody else has run for cover – would be involved. On

the

o

the

r h

and

, courts were taking different views as to whe

the

r ‘channelling provisions’, such as found under

the

CLC (Civil Liability Convention) regime for oil pollution compensation, should protect class.

He said that attitudes to liability were likely to change following

the

Deepwater Horizon

catastrophe, as

the

y did after

the

likes of

the

Piper Alpha

and

Exxon Valdez

, but emphasised that it remained to be seen whe

the

r classification societies could ever successfully limit

the

ir liability for tort claims, as proposed by, among o

the

rs,

the

Comite Maritime International (CMI).