The litigation centres on one of the best known bulk carrier losses of recent years, the destruction of the 171,000-dwt Ocean Victory (built 2005) after the vessel grounded at the Japanese port of Kashima.
There have been a run of serious bulker casualties at the port with Gard alleging that despite the port being a major gateway for raw materials for a Sumitomo steel plant a combination of port features and the location’s vulnerability to adverse weather and sea conditions make Kashima an unsafe port that should not have been nominated by China National Chartering (Sinochart).
Gard
