Insurance claims following "Server" shipwreck: Conversion to Norwegian currency must take place at the time of settlement of the claims

Following a shipwreck, the District Court constituted a global limitation fund, see section 177 of the Maritime Code, at the request of the ship's owner and manager. The State and Assuranceforeningen Gard, where the ship was insured, submitted claims to the fund. After the constitution of the fund, Gard demanded coverage of additional costs for the removal of part of the wreck. These costs were settled in foreign currency. In the dispute between Gard and the State regarding the time of conversion of the relevant foreign currency into Norwegian kroner, the Supreme Court, like the previous instances, concluded that the krone exchange rate at the time of settlement of the individual claims – not at the time of the constitution of the fund – should be used as a basis. The Court found that there were strong reasons against applying section 6-5 of the Creditors Recovery Act analogously, and that linking the conversion to the time of the fund’s constitution could lead to currency adjustments. It was also specified that the solution could be different in those cases where the relevant claims had been settled before the fund was constituted.

Read the whole judgment (Norwegian only)

Area of law: Maritime law, section 176 of the Maritime Act. 

Key paragraphs: 40, 45–48

Justices: Webster, Falch, Høgetveit Berg, Erik Sæther og kst. dommer Elsheim