Attorneys of the Odesa Office of Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm successfully protected the interests of a major Greek shipowner and an American P&I Club, a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, in a court dispute under a maritime claim for compensation for material and moral damages caused by a seafarer’s loss of life during his service on a ship.
A seafarer’s wife filed a claim against the Greek shipowner and the P&I Club to one of the Odesa district courts seeking the compensation of damage caused by the death of her husband, who worked as a chief engineer on a Liberian flagged vessel however passed away due to a heart attack that he suffered during a voyage to the port of Chittagong, Bangladesh. In March 2021, the wife of the deceased seafarer signed a receipt and release statement as a full and final settlement of all claims, complaints and demands related to the death of her husband. However, in July of the same year, the wife, acting as the legal representative of the seafarer’s two underage children, filed the said claim.
The claimant tried to prove that the shipowner failed to ensure safe working conditions on the ship, the seafarer experienced the negative impact of the ship as a source of increased danger, which led to a heart attack and his death. The claimant also alleged that the receipt and release statement that was previously signed by the wife was null and void.
Following the case examination in the first-instance court, the defendants’ attorneys managed to prove that the shipowners did not commit negligence and there was no influence of a source of increased danger. Moreover, all claims have been settled in due course under the pre-trial procedure. The court agreed with the legal position of the lawyers of Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm and dismissed the claim in full. The arguments of the lawyers were convincing, and the reasoning part of the judgment was properly motivated by the court, so the claimants waived their right to appeal, which happens very rarely in such cases. Consequently, the court judgment in favor of the shipowner and the P&I club came into force and the case was closed.