Shipyard immunity from responsibility for vessel casualties after the expiration of a newbuilding’s one-year warranty could be further eroded following the ongoing Tokyo litigation into the loss of the 8,110-teu containership MOL Comfort (built 2008).
The vessel was five years old when it fractured its hull, then broke in two and sank without explanation in the Indian Ocean in July last year, prompting owner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and cargo companies to begin court proceedings against shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in the Japanese capital.
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