A shipping company did not act with gross negligence when a submarine cable was torn in February 2022. The torn cable resulted in a major power outage on the island. Therefore, the shipping company is covered by so-called liability limitation in the case, which means that the shipping company's liability for damages is limited to approximately 27.2 million. DKK. The Maritime and Commercial Court has ruled on this in a ruling on Friday.
The power outage occurred on February 26, 2022 at 6:17 a.m. For hours, the island was hit by the extensive power outage, which meant that the island's own electricity production was started while the power cable was examined for faults.
The culprit turned out to be the ship Samus Swan, which is owned by the shipping company Uni-Tankers. It was probably the ship's anchor or anchor chain that damaged the power cable when the ship lost its anchor.
According to TV 2 Bornholm, Energinet had sued the shipping company in the case with a claim for damages of almost 38 million DKK. But the court has now ruled that the liability is limited to the limitation fund that the court set in 2023 at approximately 27.2 million DKK. Only if the shipping company had acted grossly negligently could the compensation be made higher.
The shipping company cannot be blamed for the captain's behavior
The two expert members of the Maritime and Commercial Court believe that the captain's behavior was significantly negligent, but that it did not entail an obvious danger that a submarine cable would be torn. Therefore, the captain did not cause the damage through gross negligence.
The legal judge in the case, on the other hand, believes that the captain showed gross negligence. The captain mistakenly focused on the ship's engine as the cause when the ship lost speed.
However, the judge rejects that the gross negligence also applies to the shipping company and therefore comes to the same conclusion: Liability for damages is limited.
Therefore, Energinet is left without the very large compensation that the energy company had hoped for. Energinet will also be charged for the case. The company must pay legal costs of approximately one million kroner.
It is not yet known whether Energinet will appeal the ruling.
/ritzau/
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