This was an appeal in cassation against the judgment of the Rouen Court of Appeal, 30 June 1994. Vivico purchased a shipment of potatoes carried by Golden Atlantic Two Shipping Ltd (the carrier) on the Dien from Alexandria (Egypt) to Zeebrugge (Belgium). On unloading the potatoes on 25 April 1988, the Belgian health authorities refused to import them because of the dry rot with which they were affected. Eagle Star France (the insurer), with whom Vivico had insured the shipment, refused payment.

The insurer criticised the Court of Appeal judgment for having ordered it to pay Vivico under the insurance policy. Among other things, having noted that the tubers were carriers of fusarium during loading and that the dry rot resulted from the development of this fungus during transport, the Court of Appeal could not, without ignoring the implications of its own findings, and without violating art 4.2.m of the Hague Rules, rule that the cause of the loss should not be seen as a specific defect of the goods.

Held: Appeal dismissed.

The judgment noted that the damage observed in the potatoes was not due to the presence of the alleged disease, but rather due to the fact that the chosen vessel did not have appropriate refrigeration installations or sufficient ventilation.