ABSTRACT
Loss or damage caused by derelict mines, torpedoes, bombs or other weapons of war now pose special difficulties. These do not arise from the law itself, since the establishment of the claim will concern issues of fact only. They arise from the wording of the policy and in particular the inclusion of the word “derelict”. Since 1983, the new Institute Time Clauses have excluded from their insurance only “derelict mines, torpedoes, bombs or other derelict weapons of war” and the new Institute War Clauses include these as insured perils word for word in the same form. Insured perils, war, strikers, terrorists or whatever else, do not exhaust the possibilities in which such weapons, derelict or otherwise, may be encountered. Weapons have been known to be discharged accidentally. Ships are insured by the marine clauses for a set number of insured perils only which do not include mines or other weapons.
