Scornik Gerstein LLP is pleased to announce its successful defence of Euroins Insurance JSC in the High Court Admiralty claim “Unity Ship Group S.A. v Euroins Insurance JSC [2026] EWHC 7 (Admlty)”, concerning the vessel “Happy Aras”.

The Claim

The claim arose from the grounding of the bulk carrier “Happy Aras” off the Datça Peninsula in southern Turkey on 20 March 2023. The vessel, laden with a cargo of soya beans on the eighth day of her voyage from Reni, Ukraine to Mersin, Turkey, was seriously damaged in the incident. Salvage, lightering and transhipment operations followed, lasting nearly three months until 13 June 2023.

The claimant owners declared General Average and, following a Final Adjustment on 3 November 2023, sought a contribution of US$1,271,095.89 from cargo interests’ insurers, Euroins Insurance JSC, pursuant to an Average Guarantee dated 30 March 2023.

Our Defence

Scornik Gerstein LLP mounted a robust defence on behalf of Euroins, arguing that the sums claimed were not “reasonably, properly and legally due” under the Average Guarantee. We contended that the vessel was unseaworthy on account of the incompetence of the Master and deficiencies in the vessel’s passage planning.

Our case focused on the Master’s conduct on the evening of the grounding, which revealed a series of egregious failures including: failing to plot and record the vessel’s position as required by the Passage Plan; deviating from the planned course without making any record; dismissing the lookout from the bridge during darkness in breach of the vessel’s Safety Management System; missing a critical waypoint and failing to alter course; and failing to maintain any proper visual or radar lookout as the vessel approached land.

The Judgment

Following a four-day trial before Admiralty Registrar Davison, the High Court found decisively in favour of Euroins. The Registrar held that the Master was incompetent, finding that his errors were “numerous and egregious” and could be characterised as “a complete dereliction of duty”. Critically, the court also found that entries made in the Deck Log and Engine Log after the grounding were false and intended to deflect blame.

The Registrar concluded that the test of unseaworthiness was made out: a prudent owner would have required the competence of the Master to be made good, had he known of it, before sending the vessel to sea. Furthermore, the claimant owners failed to discharge the burden of proving that they had exercised due diligence in crewing the vessel.

Notably, neither the Master nor the beneficial owner and manager of the claimant company attended trial to give evidence, a factor which weighed heavily in the court’s assessment.

The claim was dismissed in its entirety on liability, and Euroins was awarded its costs with a substantial payment on account. Significantly, earlier in the proceedings Scornik Gerstein LLP had successfully obtained an order for security for costs against the claimant, ensuring that Euroins’ costs position was protected throughout the litigation, a decisive factor when litigating in the United Kingdom.

The reported judgment can be found at the following link: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admlty/2026/7.html

Comment

This case serves as an important reminder to shipowners and their insurers of the critical importance of crew competence in determining seaworthiness. The court’s willingness to draw inferences from the failure to call key witnesses at trial underscores the evidential risks of not adducing direct evidence from those involved in maritime casualties. We are proud to have achieved this excellent result for Euroins Insurance JSC.