A personal injury claim brought by a Bangladeshi shipbreaking worker against Zodiac Maritime could extend liability for recycling yard injuries to shipowners if it succeeds.
The case is being closely watched in industry circles as it would mark a major shift from conventional personal injury claims, which are usually brought against the employer (in this case Chittagong shipbreaker Ferdous Steel Corp).
A successful claim by the permanently injured Mohamed Edris could set a legal precedent that could prompt dozens of similar historic claims from demolition yard workers against shipowners.
Zodiac is strongly contesting the claim.
Oliver Holland, a solicitor at UK law firm Leigh Day who is representing Edris, admits the case is “complicated”.
But he says it “potentially extends the duty of care shipowners have in the eventual location of where a ship is demolished”.
Edris, 38, suffered horrific injuries in the accident, which happened when he was cutting away a propeller from the 915-teu boxship Eurus London (built 1992) in April last year. He lost a leg and severely injured his back, and his sight was damaged.
Holland, who says the quantum of the claim is still being assessed, says Edris is in “extreme pain”. He cannot afford a wheelchair and can no longer work.
It is unclear at this stage if the case will make it to the courts but it could be heard in the High Court in London in the new year.
The test case was brought to Leigh Day by Brussels-based NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The environmental and safety lobby group's founder, Ingvild Jenssen, believes it could lead to historic and future claims, and prompt owners to take preventive measures.
“We have been mapping accidents linked to European owners for several years now,” she said.
The claim, if successful, would increase pressure on shipping companies to be more selective where they demolish ships, says Jenssen, adding: “It is all about due diligence and accountability in the supply chain.”
She maintains that it would be difficult for Zodiac to argue it is not aware of the conditions at the Chittagong facility, because her organisation has written to Zodiac several times in the past informing it of the dire safety and environmental conditions at beaching yards.
Edris' case is based on the premise that Zodiac is fully aware of the dangers of the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh and should not have sold the Eurus London to the Ferdous Steel Corp yard.
But the issue is complicated because the yard was chosen by the cash buyer, in this case GMS, involved in selling the ship. Jenssen believes that in future, the liability question could also be extended to cash buyers.
In an indication of how many claims against owners might result if the Mohamed Edris case succeeds, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform reports this week that there have been eight injuries and six deaths at Bangladesh breaking yards in 10 separate incidents in the past two months alone.
It says 51 out of 152 vessels on Bangladesh's beaches are owned by European companies.
However, GMS stresses the work it has done in helping beaching yards to improve safety and environmental standards and to provide owners with improved alternative shipbreaking yards.
Zodiac says in a statement to TradeWinds that although it is "sympathetic" towards Edris, it holds no liability for the accident.
"We properly deny any liability for those injuries and we dispute the claim on a number of bases," it said.
"Zodiac Maritime was not the vessel’s owner and the accident occurred some four months after the vessel had been sold to a third-party buyer and after Zodiac Maritime’s management responsibilities for the vessel came to an end.
"The shipbreaking yard where Mr Edris was employed was not Zodiac’s contractor and Zodiac did not select the yard used to dismantle the vessel. Zodiac has no control over the working practices at shipbreaking yards."
The UK-based company adds that the claim "seeks to extend the law of negligence beyond any recognised boundaries. It is the law of Bangladesh which applies to this case, because the accident occurred in Bangladesh".
