The Court of Appeal has ruled that a shipping company in London selling a vessel to South Asia could owe a duty of care to shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh. Hamida Begum, the widow of a shipbreaking worker, Mr Khalil Mollah, who fell to his death in 2018 while working on the demolition of a defunct oil tanker, has brought the claim against the shipping company, Maran (UK), which she claims is responsible for her husband’s death.
The case shone a spotlight on the disreputable practice of dismantling large ships on the beaches of economically developing nations.
Richard Hermer QC was instructed by Martyn Day and Oliver Holland of Leigh Day to represent the claimant in this case.