Arco Arun Dredger collision

I'm not sure that makes sense? A car driver has no contract with another driver who crashes into him either...?

Is that what you meant?

If one of your employees illegally does something damaging to me, then by law I have the right to seek recompense, don't I? I may employ an insurance company to do it on my behalf, but I'm guessing that mutual insurance companies don't work like normal insurance companies...
Normal to take details with out admitting liability & report to your ins co to deal with. your ins co repair your vehicle to your satisfaction then contra claim
 
It does take some time for notice of an investigation to appear on the website.
It can also be difficult to find anything even when you are certain that an investigation is underway.

It will take an eternity, if nobody reports it to MAIB. One investigation is noted underway for an incident occurring after this dredger incident.
 
It will take an eternity, if nobody reports it to MAIB. One investigation is noted underway for an incident occurring after this dredger incident.

The Master of a v/l in UK waters is required by law to report any incident. See Marine Guidance note 458. He is in deep doo doo if he has not. I would be very surprised if the MAIB do not know of this incident as everyone else does. More like they are leaving it to Peel ports to investigate.
 
It is normal procedure for the Master, Officers of the Watch, Pilots all to be breathalysed at the soonest convenience (which is not always possible). It is also not uncommon for a list of any prescription medicine to be requested and if required a blood test taken. If the vessel is fitted with a Voyage Event Recorder that will be downloaded or the disks removed for analysis. The vessels owners have stated that the MAIB has been informed as per the rules and they will conduct an investigation as will Peel Ports but neither of these nor any recommendations or the apportion of blame will happen until the investigations are concluded. The investigations will cover all aspects such as vessel tracks, telegraph and helm orders, conditions, whether the moorings were positioned as stated on charts etc. The law states that you are innocent until proven otherwise and that process takes time.
 
From the standard shipping records, the vessel is entered with the Ship Owners Mutual P&I Association (Luxembourg) and will most probably (but not definitely) have cover for Fixed & Floating Objects. Which means they will settle the matter when a claim and liability has been proven. The policy year renews at noon on 20 FEB 2015.

If you have fully comprehensive insurance cover for your yacht, then your insurer should be taking all the necessary steps for you; including security for your claim in the event that the dredger sinks before you are paid.

If you have only got third party cover then you have a whole lot of work to do.

First you need an independent surveyor to attend and survey your vessel to establish the extent of damage and the cost of returning it to the original condition. It can make more sense in the whole scheme of things to have the vessel repaired and that fixes the amount of your claim; since you will have the invoices in support.

Second, you need to appoint decent Admiralty solicitors, the cheap local high street ones are a waste of money in this respect. Negotiate a fixed price with the solicitor and tell him to get on with it and you don't need to receive lots of paper work unless there is no extra charge for it.

You will probably get the claim settled after the first letter to the P&I club from the solicitor since the club are aware that costs will probably be found against them.

You will might wish to talk to the other parties affected in the incident and have a single lawyer act for all to save the costs.

Good luck. It can take a couple of years for these things to be settled, so better to get the repair done and enjoy your sailing.
 
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