Napoli shippers must provide salvage guarantee - 'Great deal of containers will be a total loss'

ALAN PEAT
THE FINANCIAL battering that cargo owners in the MSC Napoli are going to face from the 60% deposit they have to lodge to cover salvage costs (FTW February 23, 2007) has been confirmed by Chris Chapman of the London-based Claims & Recoveries Bureau (CRB) – an internationally recognised major in its trade. “It is most likely that a great deal of the containers will be a total loss,” he told FTW, “although in some cases there will be partial losses. “But they (the cargo owners) will be required to provide a salvage guarantee to obtain the balance of their cargo which, ultimately, may be worthless.” This because the MSC Napoli has been declared a salvaging operation rather than a total loss and all cargo owners will need to share in the costs of the salvage operation in proportion to the value of the cargo they have on board. “The main victims of this shipwreck,” Chapman added, “are likely to be the cargo owners and their insurers. “They often realise too late that – on the pretext of saving their cargo – costs exceeding the value have been commissioned, and they ultimately find that there is little or no prospect of recouping their losses from the carriers of their consignments.” The possibility of the vessel being found to be unseaworthy offers no extra hope for cargo owners. “In the final analysis,” said Chapman, “if the vessel was unseaworthy, liability would rest with the owners of the MSC Napoli. “But the sum of liability against the ship will be limited through the terms and conditions of the bill of lading (BoL) contract and the ship’s limitation fund – governed by the Hague/Hague Visby Rules. “Consequently, any recovery action will be less than the total value of the goods that have been affected.”