Alize 1954 & Anor v Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG & Ors [2021] UKSC 51 – 10 November 2021 (Reed LJ, Briggs LJ, Arden LJ, Hamblen LJ, Leggatt LJ)

Owners of CMA CGM Libra, grounded after straying from a buoyed fairway, appealed a ruling that their (causative) failure to update charts to show “numerous depths less than charted” rendered the vessel unseaworthy (Art. III r.1 Hague Rules). Dismissing the appeal, the SC held that seaworthiness was not confined to physical defects, nor were seaworthiness and navigational matters distinct categories. Negligent navigation, here by not updating charts, caused the unseaworthiness, to which Art IV r.2 was no defence, and Owners were under a non-delegable duty to make the vessel seaworthy.