In April 1999, the Aktea, owned by the Cypriot company Panamax Jupiter Maritime Co Ltd, loaded 31,501,459 tons of clinker in Jakarta, Indonesia, to be unloaded in Porto Marghera, Italy. The ship did not reach its port of destination as it was stranded off the coast of Yemen. The ship was salvaged through the intervention of a local company, Ossco, whose payment demands for its salvage services were considered too high by the shipowner. Therefore, the shipowner decided to declare the 'voyage ended', abandoning both the ship and its cargo. The buyer of the cargo and holder of the bill of lading, Superbeton SpA (Superbeton) brought a claim before the Tribunal of Genoa, claiming compensation from Panamax.

Panamax invoked the nautical fault exemption provided for in art 4.2.a of the Hague-Visby Rules, implying the negligence of the master and crew as the cause of exclusion of its liability. Moreover, the shipowner/carrier asked for the Court to take into account as additional factors that rescuers it sent to the stranded ship were prohibited by the local military authorities from approaching it; that threats were made towards the crew by Ossco; and that the demand for payment by the local salvage company was excessive.

Held: Superbeton's claim for compensation is upheld.

The Tribunal of Genoa agrees with the argument that the excepted peril invoked by Panamax does not exclude, in itself, the carrier's liability for the loss of cargo. The effect of the nautical fault exemption is an inversion of the burden of proof, requiring the claimant to prove that the event occurred because of the negligent behaviour of the carrier, as well as nautical fault. Furthermore, Panamax failed to identify the causal link between the relevant circumstances and the loss of cargo in question or to prove the absence of its fault. Moreover, the Court finds the carrier liable in light of its choice to entrust the ship and the cargo to fundamentally incompetent maritime personnel, in breach of its obligations to '[p]roperly man, equip and supply the ship' under art 3.1.b of the Hague-Visby Rules.