ABSTRACT

The position of a shipowner and an innocent mortgagee Under the ITCH(95) and the IVCH(95), loss of or damage caused by a fire which has been deliberately started by the master or crew, without the connivance of the shipowner, is recoverable under both counts of ‘fire’ and ‘barratry’.153 Obviously, if the fire was started with the connivance of the shipowner, it would not constitute barratry because barratry is, by definition, an act committed ‘to the prejudice of the shipowner’.154 Neither would the shipowner be able to recover for a loss by fire, for being himself guilty of wilful misconduct, he would be barred from so doing by s 55(2)(a) of the Act.