Oceanus Capital SARL v Lloyd’s Insurance Company SA (Re M/V Vyssos) [2025] EWHC 3293 (Comm)
Oceanus provided finance secured by a mortgage over a vessel Vyssos and took mortgagee’s interest insurance (MII). The vessel, trading into Ukrainian waters based on a forged additional war risks cover, struck a mine and was a constructive total loss. Owners’ WRI declined cover for breach of trading warranties. The Court held that the proximate cause of Oceanus’ loss was a mine strike and that the MII Policy responded: the breach of the trading warranties was an insured peril, Oceanus was not privy to it because its conditional consent was induced by fraud, and the loss was fortuitous, so indemnity was payable.