Marios Iliopoulos company Suez Fortune Investment and Piraeus Bank have taken a $77m insurance claim against hull insurers for the loss of the tanker Brillante Virtuoso to the UK high court.
The tanker was attacked in the Gulf of Aden during the early hours of 6 July 2011 by pirates who later caused an explosion in the engine room before escaping from the ship.
Damage sustained by the vessel during the attack led it to being declared a constructive total loss.
But a syndicate of hull insurers led by Talbot Underwriting is contesting the claim, alleging the attack was staged in an attempt to win a $77m insurance payout.
The parties failed to reach an anticipated last minute out-of-court settlement and the high court case started in front of Justice Nigel Teare this week.
Outlining the claimant’s case is London law firm Clyde & Co and Peter MacDonald Eggers QC.
He spent this morning rebutting the insurers allegations that the boarding and explosion onboard the ship was part of an insurance fraud.
These include the allegation that the fire was actually successfully contained but then later reignited the day after the attack by the ship's chief engineer and master with the assistance of the salvage crew.
The claimant said that the crew could not have reignited the fire and did not have access to the vessel on the day in question.
MacDonald Eggers further suggested owner Iliopoulos did not have a motive to seek a fraudulent insurance claim describing him as a “man of considerable resources”, with a successful ferry company operating in Greece.
He said the bank would testify it was not about to fore close on Iliopoulos.
MacDonald Eggers said that the owning company Suez Fortune was not in danger of becoming insolvent.
“The vessel had just gone through special survey and was good for another five years,” he told the court.
Norton Rose Fulbright and Jonathan Gaisman QC is representing the insurers in the case.
The trial continues.
