This case involved an allision between the inland tanker Oostzee and a loading arm of the Eurotank Terminal Amsterdam, causing the latter to become dislodged. On 16 March 2019, the Oostzee was berthed at a jetty of the terminal in the Carel Reyniersz harbour in Amsterdam. The Lady Ariëtte, owned by BV BeheerMaatschappij Lady Ariëtte BV (BMLA), was berthed on the other side of the harbour. When the Lady Ariëtte left the harbour, there was a force 7-8 wind blowing from a south-westerly direction. The Lady Ariëtte had to pass the Oostzee to exit the harbour. As the Lady Ariëtte had almost passed the Oostzee, the forward mooring line of the Oostzee loosened and the Oostzee started moving along the quay. This caused the loading arm of the terminal, which had not yet been disconnected from the Oostzee, to become dislodged. The insurers of the Oostzee compensated the terminal in an amount of EUR 105,000 and brought a recourse claim against BMLA, arguing that the terminal damage was caused by the passage of the Lady Ariëtte.

Held: The claim is dismissed.

The claim is subject to the Collision Convention 1910 and additionally art 8:540 ff of the Dutch Civil Code (DCC).

It follows from the judgment of the Hoge Raad of 30 November 2001 in Casuele/De Toekomst (CMI168) that there is fault on the part of a ship if the loss or damage is the result of: (a) a fault on the part of a person for whom the owner of the ship is liable under arts 6:169-6:171 DCC; (b) a fault of a person or persons performing or having performed work for the benefit of the ship or the cargo, committed in the exercise of their duties; or (c) the manifestation of a special danger to persons or property created by the fact that the ship did not meet the requirements that could be imposed on it in the given circumstances. The corollary of the Casuele/De Toekomst judgment is that insurers must state and prove the cause of the damage. Just as the mere outbreak of fire is insufficient in itself to establish a presumption of fault on the part of the ship, the mere passage of a ship such as the Lady Ariëtte near the Oostzee, at which point the Oostzee started to move forward, is insufficient to establish fault on the part of the Lady Ariëtte.

By definition, water movement occurs when a ship moves, and there may also be (some) suction when passing another ship. A moored ship must in principle also take into account some water movement of a passing ship by being properly moored. The question before the Court is whether the Lady Ariëtte was travelling at too high a speed in the circumstances and passed the moored Oostzee at too short a distance and, as a result, caused undue displacement of water, causing the Oostzee and the terminal's loading arm to move.

After examining the evidence and expert reports, the Court answered this question in the negative and found that it had not been established that the Lady Ariëtte was at fault for the damage caused by the Oostzee to the terminal.