Cargo owners found liable for part of Greek shipowner's $7.7m ransom to pirates

A group of cargo owners will have to pay some of the ransom money handed to Somali pirates for the release of a Greek tanker in 2011.

A landmark ruling in the English High Court found that trader Gunvor and others were liable under general average, despite owner Herculito Maritime having war risk and kidnap and ransom insurance policies.

The case arises from the seizure of the Paradise Navigation-managed, 73,000-dwt Polar (built 2005), which was heading from St Petersburg in Russia to Singapore with a cargo of 69,500 tonnes of fuel oil.