Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd

Summary

Hilary Term
[2015] UKSC 17
On appeal from: [2013] EWCA Civ 230

JUDGMENT

Braganza (Appellant) v BP Shipping Limited and another (Respondents)

before

Lord Neuberger, President
Lady Hale, Deputy President
Lord Kerr
Lord Wilson
Lord Hodge

JUDGMENT GIVEN ON

18 March 2015

Heard on 10 November 2014

Appellant
Belinda Bucknall QC
(Instructed by Duval Vassiliades)

Respondents
Grahame Aldous QC
Christopher Wilson
(Instructed by Hill Dickinson LLP)

LADY HALE: (with whom Lord Kerr agrees)

Between 01.00 and 07.00 on 11 May 2009, Mr Renford Braganza, Chief Engineer on BP's oil tanker the British Unity, then in the mid-North Atlantic, disappeared. No-one knows for certain what happened to him. But his employers formed the opinion that the most likely explanation for his disappearance was that he had committed suicide by throwing himself overboard. This would mean that his widow was not entitled to the death benefits provided for in his contract of employment. Clause 7.6.3 of that contract provided relevantly as follows:

"For the avoidance of doubt compensation for death, accidental injury or illness shall not be payable if, in the opinion of the Company or its insurers, the death, accidental injury or illness resulted from amongst other things, the Officer's wilful act, default or misconduct whether at sea or ashore …." (emphasis supplied)

It is not the task of this or any other court determining a claim under such a contract to decide what actually happened to Mr Braganza. The task of the court is to decide whether his employer was entitled to form the opinion which it did. The issue of general principle in this appeal, therefore, is the test to be applied by the court in deciding that question.

The facts

Mr Braganza was an able and well qualified Chief Engineer. Like all the crew of the MV British Unity, he was an Indian national. He was a Roman Catholic and married with two children. In July 2008, the family had moved from India to Toronto in Canada and he had taken extended leave for this purpose. After returning to work with BP, he joined the British Unity in Gibraltar in February 2009. The vessel's main engine had broken down in August 2008 and been repaired but the damaged cylinder liners had not been replaced. This major work was done in April 2009 in Ferrol, Spain. Shortly after leaving Ferrol, the cooling water jacket of one of the cylinders began to leak. The vessel then proceeded via Falmouth to Brofjorden in Sweden, where a cargo of unleaded gasoline was loaded and also two spare cooling water jackets, which were stored in an alleyway on the main deck, close to a hatch providing access to the engine room below.

After sailing from Brofjorden, Mr Braganza received an email on 5 May 2009 from an engineering superintendent asking him to carry out a scavenge inspection/ring inspection of the engine in about six days' time and suggesting that it would be prudent to replace the cooling water jacket at the…

JUDGMENT

18 March 2015

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Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

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Legal Principle Established