- rld
                                           udskrift
                                                af
                           sø- & handelsrettens dombog
                                          ____________
                                             dom
afsagt den 18. januar 2016
s-9-14
                                      tryg forsikring a/s
                                      (advokat jesper windahl)
                                      mod
                                      dhl global forwarding (denmark) a/s
                                      (advokat michael villadsen)
indledning og parternes påstande
denne sag, der er anlagt den 17. juni 2014, drejer sig om, hvorvidt dhl global forwarding
(denmark) a/s som kontraherende transportør er erstatningsansvarlig for det tab, som tryg
forsikring a/s’s forsikringstager, linak a/s led som følge af, at skibet mol comfort forliste
den 17. juni 2013, kl. 07:45, hvorved linak a/s’ containerforsendelser på skibet gik tabt. ski-
bet, der var på vej fra singapore til jeddah, forliste efter at have fået en revne i bunden og var
brækket i to dele.
                                                -2-
tryg forsikring a/s har udbetalt erstatning til linak a/s og er ved subrogationserklæring af
23. august 2013 indtrådt i linak a/s’ erstatningskrav mod dhl global forwarding (den-
mark) a/s.
det er oplyst, at dhl viderekontraherede transporten til det schweiziske linjerederi, danmar
lines, som viderekontraherede transporten til hyundai merchant marine, men det er uop-
lyst, om der herefter var yderligere mellemliggende transportled før mitsui o.k.s., der ope-
rerede skibet.
tryg forsikring a/s har nedlagt endelig påstand om, at dhl global forwarding (denmark)
a/s til tryg forsikring a/s tilpligtes at betale 1.049.502,35 kr. med tillæg af procesrente fra
sagens anlæg den 17. juni 2014.
dhl global forwarding (denmark) a/s har nedlagt påstand om frifindelse, subsidiært fri-
findelse mod betaling af et mindre beløb end det påstævnte.
kravet i henhold til den nedlagte påstand er opgjort som summen af en række beløbsfaktu-
raer, 1.034.692,72 kr. med tillæg af fragtomkostninger, 39.746,02 kr., forsikringspræmie 63,61
kr. og med fradrag for selvrisiko på 25.000 kr.
oplysningerne i sagen
i japan blev der nedsat en officiel komité ”committee on large container ship safety” for at
få kortlagt årsagen til forliset. komiteen udarbejdede i december 2013 1) en foreløbig rapport
(”interim report”) og i marts 2015 2) en endelig rapport (”final report”). der er endvidere
udarbejdet 3) en ”investigation report on structural safety of large container ships” (sep-
tember 2014) af class nk (nippon kaiji kyokai).
sagen er med hensyn til forliset forelagt på grundlag af uddrag af de udarbejdede rapporter,
som i det dokumenterede omfang gengives nedenfor:
                                                    -3-
1) foreløbig rapport fra december 2013 (”interim report af committee on large container
ship safety”) (bilag 1 og bilag 23)
af rapporten fremgår om skibet mol comfort bl.a., at ”ship owner” var ural contai-
ner carriers s.a., at ”operator” var mitsui o.s.k. lines, ltd., at ”ship mangement co.”
var mol ship management (singapore) pte. ltd., at ”nationality” var bahamas, at
”classification” var nippon kaiji kyokai, og at dets længe var 302 m, dets bredde 45,60 m og
dets dybgang 25 m. det blev søsat den 8 marts 2008. det er oplyst, at skibets dwt (dead-
weight tonnage) var 90613.
af rapporten fremgår videre bl.a.:
      “outline of the ship
             the container ship “mol comfort” … was the sixth in a series of large con-
      tainer ships that were delivered starting 2006.
             the ship was built using yp47 steel … in the hatch coaming to mitigate against
      toughness degradation that could occur when using exyta thickness plates. all fuel oil
      tanks were designed double hull and placed protective in side structural areas to prevent
      environmental pollution.
             the main engine was an electronically controlled diesel engine of mitsubishi-
      sulzer 11rt-flex 96c with a service speed of 25.25 knots.
             the ship had seven cargo holds in front of the engine room ant two cargo holds aft
      of the engine room, and a maximum capacity of 8,110 teu could be loaded in the holds
      and on the deck.
      2.2 conformity with rules/survey conditions
      conformity with rules
             application for classification and statutory services during construction was made
      to nippon kaiji kuokai (hereafter “classnk”), as the representative authority of the
      government of the bahamas, and it was confirmed that the ship’s plans and hull struc-
      ture conformed with the relevant requirements pf the rules for the survey and construc-
      tion of steel ships, guidance for the survey and construction of steel ships, during plan
      approval, as well as during classification surveys during her construction.
             as part of the approval based on the rules mentioned above, direct strength calcu-
      lations for the evaluation of vertical bending strength, torsional strength and fatigue
      strength were implemented. all these were confirmed to be satisfied with the require-
      ments.
             in addition to the above, conformity with following iacs unified requirements
      related to strength of ships was also verified.
      …
      overview
      results of investigation
                                              -4-
       the ship experienced hogging (convex deformations in the longitudinal direction),
causing the ship’s midship to fracture. according to observation of the progression fol-
lowing the outbreak of the accident, the upper deck area was the last part to fracture.
from this, it can be assumed that the crack which trigged the fracture began below the
waterline in the bottom part of the ship’s hull and then progressed upwards along the
side of the ship. the fracture is believed to have originated in the bottom shell plates of
no. 6 cargo hold.
       safety inspections of the ship’s sister ships (large container ships of the same de-
sign as “the ship”) have found buckling deformations (for example, measuring approx-
imately 20mm in height) on the bottom shell plates.
       an investigation of the ship’s maintenance and inspections records also found
buckling deformations on the bottom shell plates of the no. 5 cargo hold forward of the
presumed fracture point.
       structural analyses (simulations) were carried out using 3 hold fe model
representing the midship part in order to simulate the fracture of the ship. meanwhile
wave-load analyses under the sea state condition at the time of the accident were also
carried out.
       as a result, the hull strength of the ship was calculated to be 14.0 x 106 kn-m. on
the other hand, the estimated load acting on the hull was found to be 9.4 x 10 6 kn-m. this
indicates that the estimated load equated to only approximately 67% of the hull strength.
       structural simulations were also conducted to simulate the buckling deformations
(approx. 20mm) found on the bottom shell plates during the safety inspections of the sis-
ter ships, but such buckling deformations did not occur even when applying loads near
the ultimate hull girder strength.
       uncertain factors, in the estimation of structural strength such as the possible pres-
ence of residual deformations approximately 20mm in height on the bottom shell plates
along the butt joint of the ship bottom (the welded areas between the blocks in which the
hull was built) were quantitatively assessed. furthermore, the cargo loading effect on the
simulations of acting loads were quantitatively assessed. however, the conditions for
fracture were not able to be simulated.
                                     2nd   deck arrangement
                                           ↑          ↑
                           no.6 cargo hold            no.5 cargo hold
                                                -5-
               tank top arrangement of no.5 & no.6 cargo holds (port side)
assessment of investigation results
       the load acting on the ship under the sea state at the time of the accident is esti-
mated to be 9.4 x 106 kn-m by the committee. however, according to the navigation
records, the ship had encountered sea states in which it withstood a load of approximate-
ly 10.0 x 106 kn-m around three and a half years prior to the accident, and no such frac-
turing accident had occurred in that instance. since fracturing accident occurred after this
event, three possibilities are hypothesized that:
(1) the real loads acting on the hull at the time of the accident exceeded the estimation;
(2) the ships hull strength had been reduced due to possible presence of residual buck-
ling deformations on the bottom shell plates or any other reasons; or
(3) both of the above elements were combined.
for this reason, it is necessary to conduct further verification of both load and strength re-
lated simulations, including consideration of the effect of the uncertain factors in the si-
mulations.
       furthermore, with regards to the fact that deformations of approximately 20mm
were found on the bottom shell plates during the safety inspections of the sister ships,
given that the deformations could not be simulated even when loads very close to the ul-
timate hull girder strength were applied, and that some buckling deformations of the bot-
tom shell plates of the ship had been found even though she is presumed not have en-
countered loads close to her hull strength, it is necessary to clarify the mechanism of
these buckling deformations by both full-scale stress measurements of actual ships and
numerical simulations.
…
8. results of the investigation and future tasks
       based on the consideration of the estimation of the acting load based on conditions
at the time of the accident, the evaluation of the hull strength based on safety inspections
of the ship’s sister ships, and the consideration of accident occurrence scenarios, the re-
sults and future tasks are presented in the following sections.
8.1 weight distribution and still water bending moment
investigation results
       since it was difficult to make an estimation of the weight distribution based on cer-
tain assumptions with respect to the presence of cargo in excess of its manifested weight
and uneven weight distribution, simulations for acting loads were conducted by using
                                             -6-
the declared weights for the cargo loading. in this case, the still water bending moment
would be equal to ms=6.0xl06 kn-m.
future tasks
       with regards to the proper management of cargo weight on the hull for large con-
tainer ships in the 8,000 teu class and over in particular, cargo loading planning for ac-
tual voyages could be frequently reached to the maximum permissible still water vertical
bending moment (hogging condition). in accordance with the deliberations at the imo
related to the enforcement of container weight verification prior to loading, verification of
the actual weight of container cargoes provided by the shipper is recommended as a safe-
ty measure for large container ships.
                                                                     (see sections 6.2 and 6.3)
8.2 sea state conditions at the time of the accident and wave bending moment
investigation results
       based on the estimation in the long crested irregular waves under the sea condi-
tions at the time of the accident (significant wave height: 5.5m, mean wave period: 10.3
seconds), the maximum load at the time of the accident was mw=2.0x106 kn-m (wave),
and mwhip=1.4x106 kn-m (whipping), mw+mwhip=3.4x106 kn-m in total. therefore the esti-
mated bending moment is ms+mw+mwhip=9.4x106 kn-m in total, by combining the still wa-
ter bending moment with the wave induced vertical bending moment.
future tasks
       even though the ship encountered sea states that generated loads of approximate-
ly 10.0x106 kn-m three and a half years prior to this accident, no such fracturing occurred
in that instance. this means that (1) the possibility of loads acting on the hull exceeding
the estimated values at the time of the accident, (2) the possibility of the weakening of the
hull strength due to the extent of buckling deformation on the bottom shell plates and/or
any other reasons, and (3) both, (1) and (2) may be taken into consideration, so that fur-
ther investigations are necessary to verify the effects of uncertainties involved in the
strength and acting load simulations.
       moreover, the following uncertain factors and technical challenges may exist in the
simulations and it is important to upgrade the technology of evaluation and to calibrate it
by full-scale stress measurements of ships;
• accuracy of estimation of whipping effect on wave loads in the simulation
• the variation of estimated wave loads due to the difference of the phase angle of each
component waves in the time domain analysis
• the difference of wave directional spectrum between short crested irregular waves (
real sea state) and long crested irregular waves (in simulation and model tests)
• development of the method for estimating load under multi-directional waves and for
simulating structural strength in that wave condition.
…
8.5 uncertainty factors involved in the evaluation of ultimate hull girder strength
and required rule values
investigation results
       in the present investigation, acting loads based on the non-linear strip method
were estimated at ms+mw+mwhip=9.4x106 kn-m, while the ultimate hull girder strength
based on the three hold model analysis (simulation) was calculated as m ult=14.0~15.0x106
kn-m, so that the fracturing conditions were not met. the estimated ultimate strength of
                                               -7-
the ship was found to be around 126% of the strength required by the classification rules
(a surplus margin of 26%).
future tasks
        with regards to the following uncertain factors and the not fully established quan-
titative measures involved, the appropriateness of the safety margins, which current clas-
sification rule requirements ensure, should be reviewed as to whether the margin is satis-
factory, and also comparisons of large container ships with designs other than the ship
should be carried out.
• the whipping effect on wave bending moment
• surplus margin of wave bending moment required by classification rules for whipping
component
• the uncertainty in still water bending moment due to the uncertainty of container
weight distribution
• ultimate strength taking into account of transverse load (bottom and side water pres-
sure, container load, in particular, the asymmetrical water pressure distribution due to
oblique waves and two-directional waves), etc.
• variability of the material properties and effect of welding residual stress.
    …
6.3.1 effects of loading
        while there have been debates at the international maritime organization (imo)
related to enforcement of container weight verification prior to loading, the container
cargoes on the ship were lost when it sank. therefore, the actual weight of cargo in each
container and its loading position cannot be verified. data was collected in order to un-
derstand the trend of the relationship between the estimated hull deflection from meas-
ured draught values and the still water vertical bending moment, including data of the
sister ships so as to study the effects of loading of container cargoes.
study for the ship
        the deflection of the hull obtained by reading the measured draught values was
0.63 m at the time of departure of the ship before the accident. the still water vertical
bending moment estimated using the loading calculator when the container cargoes were
loaded in accordance with the declared container weights and loading plan was 103% of
the allowable design value. on the other hand, the still water bending moment estimated
by direct calculation using full-ship fem model for hull deflection (0.63 m) was 126% of
the allowable value. (if the effect of buoyant force due to deflection was considered, the
result obtained was 118% of the allowable value.) the considerations below were made
with regard to the relationship among cargo weight, hull deflection, and still water ver-
tical bending moment.
        firstly, the difference in magnitude of the loaded weight of container cargoes from
the declared value was calculated so as to reach the still water bending moment to 126%
of the allowable value. the results of the calculation showed that when the total cargo
weight was the same as the declared total weight, if the weight near amidships was re-
duced by 14%, the weight near the stern and near the bow was each increased by 13%,
then the still water vertical bending moment became equal to 126% of the allowable value
(see fig.6.3.1). on the other hand, there was also the viewpoint that it was difficult to im-
agine that the actual loading on the ship was considerably different from the declared
cargo weight and the loading plan. the actual loading in the ship could not be verified
due to the sinking. moreover, there could be errors in draught measurements, and effects
                                                        -8-
      of heeling of the ship, therefore, investigations and validation studies using the sister
      ships are necessary henceforth.
      …”
2. endelig rapport af marts 2015 (“final report of committee on large container ship safe-
ty”) (bilag f)
af rapporten fremgår blandt andet:
      “…
      results of investigation
             it was inferred that the hull fracture originated from the bottom shell plates in the
      midship part of the ship. about 20mm buckling deformation was detected in the bottom
      shell plates during safety inspections of the sister ships (large container ships of the same
      design as "the ship"). for reproduction of the hull fracture, the committee conducted si-
      mulation of acting loads on the ship from the data of weather and sea condition at the time
      of accident. and the ship structural strength (hull girder ultimate strength) simulated by
      modeling midship part of the ship was compared with the acting loads.
             in the simulation for ship structural strength, lateral loads were also included in ad-
      dition to vertical bending moment, taking into account actual phenomenon. this value of
      ship structural strength was lower than that calculated by the case without considering lat-
      eral loads. simulation of acting loads was conducted, taking into account whipping loads
      (loads of vibration of ships induced by slamming), which had not been explicitly consi-
      dered in the current structural requirements. the acting loads increased with growing
      wave height and/or ship speed. also, the analysis was conducted in consideration of devia-
      tion of container weight (gap between declared weight and actual weight), uncertainly in
      actual sea and deviation of yield stress of steel.
             consequently it was found, by simulation, that the ship had the possibility of frac-
      ture at the time of the accident. also, it was found, by simulation, that buckling deforma-
      tion detected in bottom shell plates of the sister ships could occur by provision of
      slightly lower loads than ship structural strength and that the amount of deformation
      could increase by repeated loads.
             with regard to the safety of large container ships, the committee considered the
      requirements based on the result of simulations. consequently, it was found that the re-
      quirements should consider the effect of lateral loads in evaluation of ship structural
      strength (hull girder ultimate strength). it was also found that the requirements for longi-
      tudinal strength should consider the effect of whipping response against ship structural
      strength, based on the knowledge accumulated for the development of the requirements.
      furthermore the technical backgrounds of the requirements for the vertical bending
      strength, including sea condition, should be considered so that they could be available as
      reference taking into account that acting loads for hull girder could be changed depend-
      ing on wave height, ship's speed and so on.
             with regard to the large container ships of classnk with different design from the
      ship, no similar deformations of bottom shell plates were found through the safety inspec-
      tions and sufficient structural margins were found comparing with the ship as the results of
      the simulations. it can be considered that the similar confirmations, such as inspection of bot-
      tom shell plates, are effective for other large container ships.
                                                 -9-
recommendations of requirements for large container ship (8,000 teu class or over)
       it is recommended that the classification requirements for large container ship struc-
tural strength, including class nk requirements and iacs unified requirements, should
be amended or considered in the following way at the early stage in order to implement the
safety measures internationally.
       .1      the effect of the lateral loads which induce bi-axial stresses of bottom shell
       plates should be considered in the requirements of the hull girder ultimate strength
       taking into account the close relationship of the lateral loads and the hull girder ul-
       timate strength.
       .2      effects of whipping responses should be explicitly considered in the require-
       ments of the vertical bending strength.
       .3      representation of technical backgrounds of the requirements for vertical
       bending strength such as sea states etc. should be considered.
1 information regarding the accident and buckling deformations in the bottom shell
plates of the sister ships
1.1 outline of container ship mol comfort
       the bahamian flagged container ship "mol comfort", operated by mitsui o.s.k.
lines, was designed and built by the mitsubishi heavy industries, ltd., nagasaki shi-
pyard & machinery works. the ship was the sixth in a series of large container ships that
were delivered starting in 2007. the ship was built using yp47 steel (yield stress: 460
n/mm2) in the hatch coaming to mitigate toughness degradation that could occur when
using extremely thick plates. all fuel oil tanks were protectively designed in side structur-
al areas such as double hull construction to prevent environmental pollution.
       the main engine was an electronically controlled diesel engine of mitsubishi-
sulzer 11rt-flex 96c with a service speed of 25.25 knots. the ship had seven cargo holds
in front of the engine room and two cargo holds aft of the engine room with a maximum
capacity of 8,110 teu.
1.2    conformity with rules/survey conditions
       application for classification and statutory services during construction was made
to nippon kaiji kyokai*, as the representative authority of the government of the baha-
mas, and it was confirmed that the ship's plans and hull structure conformed with the
relevant requirements of the rules for the survey and construction of steel ships, guid-
ance for the survey and construction of steel ships, during plan approval, as well as dur-
ing classification surveys during her construction.
       as part of the approval based on the rules mentioned above, direct strength calcu-
lations for the evaluation of transverse strength, torsional strength and fatigue strength
were implemented. all these were confirmed to be satisfied with the requirements. in
addition to the above, conformity with iacs unified requirements related to ship struc-
tural strength was also verified.
1.3    state and conditions at the time of the accident
       according to the operator of the ship, a crack occurred midship part at about
07h45 (gmt + 5 hours) on 17 june 2013, while crossing the indian ocean on a voyage
from singapore to jeddah in saudi arabia. the ship was sailing at a speed of approx-
imately 17 knots with the engine running at 79 rpm. the significant wave height at the
time of the accident was 5.5 m with a south-westerly wind of beaufort force 7. as a result
of water ingress into the cargo hold, the ship was unable to operate under its own pow-
er. the 26 crew members escaped by lifeboat and were rescued. subsequently, the ship's
                                               - 10 -
hull split into two which then drifted apart, and subsequently sank in the open sea (3,000
to 4,000m in depth). records on board, such as voyage data recorder, ship log book,
and ballast log book record among others, were lost when the ship sank.
       water ingress was first detected by the water ingress alarm in the duct keel located
near the center line of the double bottom of the ship. approximately two minutes later, fur-
ther water ingress was detected in no.6 cargo hold located on the double bottom midship
part. from the enlarged view in fig. 1.3.1, the crack progression ran upwards from the bot-
tom of the ship, at no.6 cargo hold. from this, it was assumed that the crack which
triggered the fracture had originated in the bottom shell plates below no.6 cargo hold
midship part.
                  fig 1.3.1 condition of the ship at the time of the accident
           (direction of the crack progression (photo by mitsui o.s.k. lines, ltd)
                                             ↑         ↑
                            no.6 cargo hold            no.5 cargo hold
                                   fig 1.3.2 2nd deck arrangement
                                             - 11 -
          fig 1.3.3 tank top arrangement of no.5 & no.6 cargo holds (port side)
1.4 safety inspections of the sister ships
       as the conditions of the hull damage and the cargo loading could not be verified
due to the sinking of the ship with on-board records, safety inspections of their bottom
shell plates were conducted on the sister ships to collect any information relevant to the
accident. upon results of the safety inspections carried out on the sister ships, buckling
deformations (concave and convex deformation of the bottom shell pates) of up to a max-
imum of 20mm in height were observed near the center line of the transverse
section of the bottom shell plates in midship part. as a preventative safety
measure for these sister ships, significant reinforcements of the double bottom structure
to increase hull girder strength had been carried out successively for each ship. inspec-
tions of 6 the sister ships and four other ships similar in design to the ship were carried
out with the cooperation of each operator in line with the committee's objectives. as
these ships were not japanese flagged ships, no information about these ships will be dis-
closed excluding information mentioned in this report. although differences were ob-
served in their shape and frequency, deformations of the bottom shell plates, including
minor deformations, were found in five of the sister ships operated by the same operator
of the ship, and found in one of the other four similar ships. no deformations were
found on the remaining one operated by the same operator of the ship just delivered in
2013.
fig 1.4.1 example of buckling deformations observed in the bottom shell plates in double
bottom midship part found on the sister ship operated by the same operator of the ship
(photo by mitsui o.s.k. lines, ltd.)
       fig. 1.4.1 shows an example of deformation observed in the sister ship operated
by the same operator of the ship. the concave and convex buckling deformation of the
bottom shell plates were observed between the bottom longitudinal stiffeners which were
not deformed.
       the maintenance records, as a part of safety management system, of the ship
were investigated. no deformation was recorded in the bottom shell plates under no.6
cargo hold midship part, assumed to be the part where the fracture originated, but
                                                               - 12 -
        showed buckling deformations in bottom shell plates on both the port and starboard
        sides near the butt joint in the vicinity of fr.182 under no.5 cargo hold locating one-hold
        forward. some similar deformations were recorded after 4 january 2010. since no repairs
        were recorded, such deformations may exist in the ship. in addition, there are no records
        regarding buckling deformations in the bottom shell plates during the periodic dry-
        docking surveys by the classification society. …
        2 reproduction of the ship fracture and buckling deformations in the bottom shell
        plates by simulation calculations
        2.1 method of simulation calculations
                in order to reproduce the ship fracture by simulation calculation, acting loads
        were calculated by estimating the sea condition from the data of weather and sea at the
        accident. at the same time, the elasto-plastic assessment of the midship part of the ship
        was conducted and ship structural strength was estimated. the committee verified the
        possibility of the accident by comparing acting loads with ship structural strength.
                in simulation of acting loads by calculation, whipping loads, which have not been
        explicitly considered in current structural requirements, were taken into account. the
        deviation of the sea condition in the accident was also considered, taking into account the
        weather and sea conditions data. besides, the effect of deviation of container weight (gap
        between declared weight and actual weight) on the still water vertical bending moment
        was considered. the calculated acting loads were increased or decreased depending on
        sea condition and/or ship speed1.
                on the other hand, ship structural strength was estimated by the elasto-plastic assess-
        ment of the midship part of the ship. in this assessment, the effect of lateral loads such as
        pressure on bottom hull and container weight, which induce bi-axial stress on the bottom
        plating, was considered as well as vertical bending moment.(refer to annex 2). the commit-
        tee also considered the following; the effects of deviation of yielding point of steel plate con-
        stituting ship structure, the effect of welding residual stress of bottom longitudinal and the ef-
        fect of buckling deformations of the bottom shell plates, as observed in the sister ships. the
        ship structural strength by the simulation calculation is increased or decreased by those ef-
        fects2.
        2.2     verification of possibility of the ship fracture
                the interim report has indicated the necessity of consideration of the effect of un-
        certainty factors in the simulations for acting loads and ship structure strength, as the
        cause of the accident has not yet fully been clarified quantitatively. responding to the in-
        terim report, classnk, one of the committee members, considered the possibility of the
        accident, taking into account the uncertainty factors, and informed of the following re-
        port to this committee;
                .1      with regard to the possibility of the fracture accident, it considered compari-
                        son between acting loads and ship structural strength, taking into account
                        the deviation of uncertainty factors such as yield stress of steel data, sea
                        condition at the accident and the gap of declared container weight and ac-
                        tual weight.
1the method of simulation for calculation of acting loads (nmriw) includes consideration of non-linearity of wave height by
estimation of various hydrodynamic forces by time steps. the detail of this method can be found in paragraph 6.2.2 in the inte-
rim report
2
 the method of simulation for calculation of the hull girder ultimate strength (ls-dyna) and the considered uncertainty factors
can be found in section 3 in nk report.
                                                    - 13 -
             .2     the result indicated that there was actually possibility, although quite low,
                    that ship fracture occurred where the load of the vertical bending moment
                    exceeded the hull girder ultimate strength at the time of the accident.
      in order to verify the possibility of the accident, the simulation of acting loads was con-
      ducted by changing the condition of ship speed, significant wave height and mean wave
      period, taking into account deviation of the weather and sea conditions. and the result of
      this simulation was compared with ship structural strength simulated by calculation. in
      this simulation, ship speed and sea conditions (significant wave height, mean wave period
      and wave direction) were changed except for the wave direction in order to confirm that
      the condition, set in nk report which indicated the possibility of the accident, does not lead
      to peculiar results. consequently, it was verified that it is actually possible that ship fracture
      happened where the load of the vertical bending moment exceeded the ship structural
      strength at the time of the accident as shown in table 2.2.1 and figure 2.2.1.
                         table 2.2.1 consideration for possibility of the accident
                                 interim report              nk report              present simulation
        ship speed             17 knot              17 knot                          15 knot
        significant wave       5.5 m                7.5 m                            8m
        height
        mean wave period       10.3 sec             15 sec                           12.5 sec
        wave direction         oblique sea from head sea                             head sea
                               bow and port side
        deviation of hull      -                   included                          included
        girder ultimate
        strength                                    (refer to paragraph 3.3 in       (refer to paragraph
                                                                                     3.3 in nk report)
                                                   nk report)
        loading condition at    forthe accident    at the accident                   1 bay empty
        calculation of                             (section 3 in nk report)
        strength
                                                                                     ship fracture is
        result                 no fracture          ship fracture is possible
                                                                                     possible
3. ”investigation report on structual safety of large container ships”, september 2014 (bilag
g) udarbejdet af classnk (nippon kaiji kyokai)
             ”… jg committee [japansk havarikommission] carried out the following investiga-
      tions in order to reproduce the accident as stated from chapter 5 to 7 of jg interim re-
      port.
             firstly, jg committee estimated the sea state at the time of the accident to be the
      significant wave height of 5.5 meters, the mean wave period of 10.3 seconds and the en-
      countered wave direction of 114 degrees (oblique sea from bow and port side) based on
                                               - 14 -
the weather and sea states data at that time. secondly, the wave loads acting on the ship
such as vertical bending moment, external sea pressure on side and bottom shell, cargo
and ballast weight at the time of the accident were evaluated in the estimated sea state
and then numerical simulations of the hull structural strength of the ship under the eva-
luated acting loads, i.e. lateral loads and vertical bending moment, were conducted.
         the result of the simulation showed that the hull girder ultimate strength was
around 150% of the estimated vertical bending moment and the simulation could not re-
produce the fracture.
         chapter 8 of jg interim report suggested future tasks related to the simulation of
acting loads and the strength considering uncertainty factors, margins of the structural
strength, on-board full scale measurement and so on.
         chapter 2 the investigative panel on large container ship safety
         in light of the findings from the investigation at jg committee, nippon kaiji kyo-
kai (classnk) set up a new investigative panel on large container ship safety (hereinaf-
ter "nk panel") in february 2014. it comprised japanese shipyards building large con-
tainer ships, shipping companies operating such ships and academic experts. it also in-
vited the japanese ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism and the japa-
nese national maritime research institute as observers. …
         nk panel investigated the two issues described below and delivered the investiga-
tion report on structural safety of large container ships (hereinafter "this report") con-
taining the findings, the conclusions and the action plan to be implemented by classnk.
     (i) investigation on possibility of occurrence of the fracture
         jg committee obtained a result that the hull girder ultimate strength of the ship
was around 150% of the vertical bending moment estimated to act on the ship at the time
of the accident, and could not reproduce the fracture. taking such result into account,
nk panel investigated the possibility of occurrence of the fracture considering uncertain-
ty factors on the strength and the loads with reasonable ranges of the deviations.
     (ii)       investigation on structural safety
         nk panel conducted 3-hold model elasto-plastic analyses for a number of large
container ships including the ship and investigated the margin of hull girder ultimate
strength. nk panel also investigated the relationship between the collapse strength of the
bottom shell plates and the hull girder ultimate strength in order to figure out the me-
chanism of occurrence of the fracture.
     chapter 3 investigation on possibility of occurrence of the fracture
     3.1        introduction
         jg interim report published in december 2013 estimated that the hull girder ulti-
mate strength of the ship had been around 150% of the estimated vertical bending mo-
ment at the time of the accident and could not show the possibility of the occurrence of
the fracture.
         jg interim report suggested the need to consider the effects of uncertainty factors
involved in the strength and loads.
         with consideration of the suggestion of jg interim report, the possibility of the oc-
currence of the fracture accident was investigated by probabilistic approach in this chap-
ter taking into account uncertainty factors affecting the hull girder ultimate strength and
the vertical bending moments.
                                               - 15 -
        3.2   uncertainty factors in strength and loads
        a key point in the investigation on the possibility of the occurrence of the fracture
is the margin of the hull girder ultimate strength against the loads.
        the factors related to the margin of the hull girder ultimate strength are listed be-
low in the case of the fracture accident.
        the followings are definite factors on the strength which are clearly specified in the
hull structural drawings.
             scantling of the structural members of the double bottom structure and
     structural arrangement of the double bottom structure such as spacing of bottom
     longitudinals, arrangement of girders and floors. (it was concluded that the fracture
     had originated from the bottom shell plates in the double bottom structure of the
     midship part.)
             scantlings and structural arrangement of surrounding structural members
     which affect the strength of the double bottom structure such as the partial bulk-
     heads.
             structural details around the starting point of the fracture such as butt joint,
     scallop, opening and discontinuity in scantling of structural members.
        meanwhile the followings are considered as uncertainty factors on hull girder
ultimate strength in general referring to jg interim report.
            •yield stress of steel (hereinafter "yield stress")
            •effect of welding residual stress
            •lateral loads, such as sea pressure and container loads
             sea states
             effect on still water bending moment due to deviations of container weight
        among these factors affecting the structural strength, definite factors such as scan-
tling, arrangements and structural details were taken into consideration on the 3-hold
model elasto-plastic analyses carried out in jg interim report to estimate the hull girder
ultimate strength of the ship.
        on the other hand, uncertainty factors such as the yield stress and the effects of lo-
cal deformations of the bottom shell plates found in the sister ships of the ship were not
taken into consideration in jg interim report.
        with respect to the loads, jg interim report estimated the sea state at the time of
the accident as the significant wave height of 5.5 meters, the mean wave period of 10.3
seconds and the encountered wave direction of 114 degrees (oblique sea from bow and
port side) from the weather and sea states data at that time and information on her head-
ing and ahead speed. based on the above estimated sea state, the wave-induced vertical
bending moment including whipping response was estimated through the simulations
by a non-linear strip method. however as commented in jg interim report, the estima-
tion of the sea state at the time of the accident may have some deviations due to the mea-
surement errors of the weather and sea states data used in the estimation.
        in addition, the uncertainty of the still water vertical bending moment caused by
deviations in container weights, i.e. the differences between declared weights and actual
weights, was also not taken into account in jg interim report.
        in view of the above, the possibility of the occurrence of the fracture was investi-
gated by nk panel with consideration of uncertainty factors in strength and loads which
had not been considered in jg interim report.
        3.3   estimation of strength and load in consideration of deviation of uncer-
tainty factors
                                                - 16 -
       the five factors listed below were considered as the uncertainty factors in this in-
vestigation. strength and loads were estimated in the consideration of their deviations
within reasonable ranges instead of giving uniquely defined values.
       [uncertainty factors related to the strength]
             yield stress
             effect of local deformations of the bottom shell plates
             effect of residual stress of the fillet welding part of bottom longitudinals
       [uncertainty factors related to the loads]
             sea state in connection with wave-induced vertical bending moment
             actual container weight in connection with still water vertical bending mo-
ment
       the strength, i.e. hull girder ultimate strength of the ship was estimated by 3-hold
model elasto-plastic analyses in this chapter, and they were carried out with the full
draught (14.5m), the same as in jg interim report, instead of the actual draught at the
time of the accident. it was expected that the effect of the deviations of the lateral loads
acting on the double bottom structure, which was mainly caused due to the deviation of
wave-induced pressure, could be taken into account by the difference between the full
draught used in the analyses and the actual draught. therefore, the uncertainty of the
lateral loads was not taken into account in the investigation of this report, although this
had been pointed as an uncertainty factor in jg interim report.
       3.3.1 estimation of strength in consideration of deviation of uncertainty factors
       yield stress, effect of local deformation and effect of welding residual stress were
considered as the uncertainty factors in the strength.
       in consideration of the deviation of the yield stress, the average value of the
yield stresswas calculated based on the values on the mill sheets of the bottom shell
plates in the area where the fracture of the ship was concluded to have originated. using
the average value of the yield stress based on the mill sheet values, the hull girder ulti-
mate strength was calculated and defined as the mean value of the hull girder ultimate
strength.
       for the minimum value of the hull girder ultimate strength corresponding to the
minimum value of the yield stress, the following two cases were considered. the investi-
gation of case 1 estimated smaller deviation of the yield stress than that of case 2.
                      the standard deviation (a) of the yield stress was calculated based on
                         the mill sheet values of the bottom shell plates. the minimum yield stress
                         was defined to be the value lower by three times the standard deviation
                         (3a) than the average value of the yield stress obtained through the mill
      case 1             sheets values.
                      the hull girder ultimate strength was calculated in consideration where
                       the yield stress of all bottom shell plates in the caiculation was equal to
                       the above minimum yield stress, and the calculated value was defined to
                       be the minimum hull girder ultimate strength.
                      the hull girder ultimate strength was calculated in consideration where
      case 2
                       the yield stress of all bottom shell plates in the calculation was equal to
                       the specified minimum yield stress, and the calculated value was defined
                       to be the minimum hull girder ultimate strength.
                                                - 17 -
        the hull girder ultimate strength was calculated by 3-hold model elasto-plastic
analyses. details of the analysis conditions are shown in appendix 2.
        the effects on the hull girder ultimate strength caused by the local deformations of
bottom shell plates and the residual stress at the fillet welding part of bottom longitudin-
als were treated as follows. …
              the possibility was considered that deformations might have existed in the
bottom shell plates of the ship which had the similar mode to the local deformations
found in the sister ships through the inspections after the accident. the effect of the local
deformations in the bottom shell plates was considered to reduce the hull girder ultimate
strength and estimated at maximum 4%.
              it was estimated that the reduction of the hull girder ultimate strength due
to the effect of the welding residual stress in the longitudinal direction caused by the fil-
let welding of bottom longitudinals was maximum 5%.
        the minimum hull girder ultimate strength corresponding to the minimum yield
stress shown in the above table was multiplied by the two effects values of the strength
reduction, that is to say one is due to the effect of the local deformations in the bottom
shell plates and the other is due to the effect of the welding residual stress. the resulting
value of the hull girder ultimate strength was defined as the lower limit of the hull girder ul-
timate strength.
        table 3-1 shows the values of the hull girder ultimate strength of the ship thus calcu-
lated.
                              table 3-1 hull girder ultimate strength of the ship
                                considering the deviation of uncertainty factors
                                                                                         (unit : kn-m)
                    mean value
       of the hull girder ultimate strength
    (value corresponding to average yield                               14.8 x 106
   stress of bottom shell plates of the ship
        based on the mill sheet values)
                                                           case 1                      case 2
                                                  minimum yield stress        minimum yield stress
                                                      was estimated             was defined as the
     minimum hull girder ultimate strength             based on the             specified minimum
     corresponding to the minimum yield            deviation of the mill            yield stress
                       stress                       sheets values of the
                                                            ship
                                                         14.2 x 106                  13.2 x 106
                                                 - 18 -
      lower limit of the hull girder ultimate
                     strength
 (value calculated by multiplying minimum
   hull girder ultimate strength by 0.96 and             13.0 x 106                   12.0 x 106
      0.95 considering the effects of local
  deformation and welding residual stress,
                  respectively)
        3.3.2 estimation of wave-induced vertical bending moment in consideration of
deviation of uncertainty factors
        jg interim report estimated that the sea state at the time of the accident had a sig-
nificant wave height of 5.5 meters, the mean wave period of 10.3 seconds and the encoun-
tered wave direction of 114 degrees (oblique sea from bow and port side). it also pointed
out that the significant wave height might have variation from 0.5 meters to 2 meters due
to the measurement errors in the weather and sea states data used for the estimation.
        in the investigation of this chapter, wave-induced load simulations in a total of 27
different cases of sea states at the time of the accident were carried out combining signifi-
cant wave heights of 5.5 m, 6.5 m and 7.5 m, mean wave periods of 10.3 seconds, 12.5
seconds and 15 seconds and encountered wave directions of 120 degrees, 150 degrees and
180 degrees (head sea) to estimate the deviation of the wave-induced vertical bending
moment at the time of the accident under different conditions. appendix 4 describes the
details. the simulations showed the result that the upper limit of the wave-induced ver-
tical bending moment at the time of the accident was 7.23 x 10 6 kn-m including whipping
response component of 3.05 x 106 kn-m corresponding to the significant wave height of
7.5 meters, mean wave period of 15 seconds and encountered wave direction of 180 de-
grees (head sea).
        3.3.3 estimation of still water vertical bending moment in consideration of devi-
ation of uncertainty factors
        jg interim report concluded the still water vertical bending moment at the time of
the accident to be 6.0 x 106 kn-m. this value was calculated from the container weights
declared by the shippers. in reality, there could have been gaps between the declared
weight and the actual weight of the containers. this means that the actual still water ver-
tical bending moment might have deviated from that which was calculated based on the
declared weight. the investigation in this chapter took into consideration 10% deviation
at maximum from the calculated still water vertical bending moment in accordance with
the investigation result of draught measurement data of the sister ships of the ship at the
time of their departure as shown in appendix 5.
        3.3.4 lower limit of strength and upper limit of load
        as stated in 3.3.1 of this report, it is estimated that the lower limit of strength was
13.0x106 kn-m in case 1 and 12.0x106 kn-m in case 2 respectively as shown in table 3-1.
        as stated in 3.3.2 and 3.3.3, the total vertical bending moment at the time of the ac-
cident, the sum of the wave-induced vertical bending moment and the still water vertical
bending moment, was estimated to be 13.8x106 kn-m (=7.23 x 106 kn-m +6.0x 106 kn-m x
1.1) as the upper limit.
        the results of the investigation on strength and loads considering the deviations of
the five uncertainty factors listed in the beginning of this section indicate a possibility
                                               - 19 -
that the upper limit of the load (the vertical bending moment) may have exceeded the
lower limit of the strength (the hull girder ultimate strength).
       3.4    possibility of occurrence of fracture
       as concluded in 3.3 of this report, there was a possibility that the upper limit of
the load exceeded the lower limit of strength at the time of the fracture. the possibility of
the occurrence of the fracture was estimated in the probabilistic way by estimating the
probability distributions of the strength and the load in the investigation of this section.
       given the limitation of data on both the strength and the loads used for the estima-
tion of the probability distribution, at first the types of the probability distribution of the
strength and the loads were assumed and then the parameters which figured the devia-
tions of the probability distributions were estimated based on the values of the strength
and the loads as evaluated in 3.3 of this report considering the deviations. while there
are many different methods of estimating the probability distributions for the strength
and for the loads with the various assumptions, the probability distributions were esti-
mated by the following methods in the investigation of this report.
       the probability distribution of the hull girder ultimate strength was presumed to
follow the normal distribution. the degree of the deviation of the strength was calculated
using the two methods, one is according to case 1 in 3.3.1, where the minimum yield
stress was estimated from the deviation of the mill sheet values of the bottom shell plates
of the ship and the other method is according to case 2 in 3.3.1, where the minimum
yield stress was defined as the specified minimum yield stress.
       the probability distribution of the wave-induced vertical bending moment result-
ing from the simulations of the 27 cases was presumed to follow the gumbel distribution,
which is one of extreme value distributions. on the other hand, the probability distribu-
tion of the still water vertical bending moment was presumed to follow the normal dis-
tribution according to the investigation results shown in appendix 5.
       the details of the estimation of probability distributions for the strength and the
loads are shown in appendix 6. appendix 6 also shows the result in case where the
probability distribution of the wave-induced vertical bending moment was presumed to
be the normal distribution for reference.
       fig. 3-1 shows relationship between the strength and the load at the time of the ac-
cident based on the probability distribution, which was estimated by the above method.
in fig. 3-1, the deviation of the strength was used as calculated by the method of case 1
in 3.3.1 where the minimum yield stress was estimated from the deviation of the mill
sheet values of the bottom shell plate of the ship, which was considered more realistic
than the other cases. results of the other cases are shown in appendix 6.
       fig. 3-1 shows that it is actually possible where the load of the vertical bending
moment exceeded the hull girder ultimate strength at the time of the accident when the
effects of the deviations of the uncertainty factors were considered although the overlap
between the strength and the load is very narrow.
       in fig. 3-1, the size of the overlapping part between the blue curve which shows
the probability of the strength and the red curve which shows the probability of the load
indicates the qualitative level of occurrence probability of the fracture. therefore it can be
said that the following two factors are important to investigate the possibility of occur-
rence of the fracture:
  the margin of strength against the load represented by the gap between the respec-
     tive peaks; and
    the degree of the deviation, i.e. the ranges of the probability distribution curves of the
     strength and the load.
                                                 - 20 -
      fig. 3-1 relationship between strength and load at the time of the accident
                     (probability distribution curve of strength and load)
        probability distribution of strength            : normal distribution
        (the deviation to be estimated from the deviation of the mill sheets values of the ship)
        wave-induced vertical bending moment            : gumbel distribution
        still water vertical bending moment             : normal distribution
        note : the vertical axis shows the occurrence probability corresponding to the band of
               strength and load of 1.0 x 105 kn-m.
       the margin of the strength becomes very important for large container ships in the
same category, where the degrees of the deviations of the strength and the loads represented
by the range of the blue and the red curves in fig. 3-1 respectively are almost the same among
large container ships.
…
4.4     characteristics of container ships, and changes in structure and operation
due to increased ship size
       container ships carry container cargoes which are light in weight compared to
their volumetric capacity, and thus the still water vertical bending moment is always in
hogging condition. due to this characteristic, the ship's double bottom structure under
wave-induced vertical bending moment is always subjected to compressive load. as for
cargo holds, the upward load due to bottom sea pressure is dominant on the double bot-
tom structure since container cargoes are relatively light.
       unlike tankers and bulk carriers, container ships are always operated with con-
tainers loaded onboard. further, the number, weight and layout of containers differ in
each voyage even in the same navigation route. for these reasons, operators need to
make the cargo loading plan for each voyage while checking compliance with the re-
quirements of stability and longitudinal strength.
                                                   - 21 -
              based on such characteristics of load and voyage, container ship design is general-
      ly carried out considering "one-bay empty condition" with the assumption that one of
      the bays is not loaded with containers, in addition to the standard loaded condition with
      homogenous container loading in each cargo hold. in this one-bay empty condition, the
      double bottom structure under the empty bay of a cargo hold is subjected to severe load
      condition from the structural viewpoint of the transverse strength, because of no contain-
      er weights balanced with the upward load due to bottom sea pressure.
              as stated in appendix 12, post-panamax container ships have improved their sta-
      bility in comparison with panamax container ships and have gained more cargo loading
      flexibility in complying with the stability requirements, because the breadth of post-
      panamax container ships is relatively increased than the depth. as a result, the need to
      ballast in the double bottom tanks to improve stability is reduced. on the other hand, the
      upward lateral load due to bottom sea pressure acting on double bottom structure has
      increased because of the increased breadth of the hull. the container weight cannot be
      balanced sufficiently with this increased upward lateral load even in the case of normal
      loading conditions where containers are homogeneously loaded in every bay. conse-
      quently the occasion increases where the load acting on double bottom structure becomes
      almost equal to the load in one-bay empty condition without ballast in double bottom,
      which is the severe condition for the transverse strength. this trend is especially obvious
      in post-panamax container ships of 8,000 teu class or larger.
      …”
retssager
der verserer flere retssager rundt om i verden som følge af forliset.
ved tokyo district court, civil division, blev der af skibets ejere udtaget stævning den 10. ja-
nuar 2014 mod det japanske værft på grundlag af den foreløbige rapport fra december 2013
(”interim report”). det sagsøgte japanske værft havde af samme type som skibet mol com-
fort bygget 6 søsterskibe.
det fremgår af stævningen videre:
      ”… after comfort commenced her service until she left singapore, the last port on june 11,
      2013, there was no problem in her shearing force and longitudinal bending moment at the time
      of departure from each port compared with the tolerance value in design…
      also, after leaving singapore, in order to maintain the calculation value of shearing force and
      longitudinal bending moment within the safety range of tolerance value in design, ballast water
      pouring operation was conducted. on the day of breached incident, the shearing force at the
      maximum position (frame no. 74) was 91.8% (against tolerance value of 100% in design), and
      the longitudinal bending moment at the maximum position (frame no. 130) was 96,5%. ….
      on june 10, 2013 comfort arrived in singapore and commenced loading operation. on june 11,
      the next day, at 18:45 completed loading operation. at around 19:05 on the same day, comfort
      left for next port, jeddah, saudi arabia laden with 4,382 containers (7,041 teu, 64,521.1 ton). …
                                                    - 22 -
       master decided the route based on the advice from weathernews, a metrological investigation
       and prediction company, and thereafter, comfort proceeded jeddah …
       by inspection of sister ships made after this hull breach incident, it was found that 5 sister ships
       except mol commitment very recently launched had the buckling deformation with abt.
       20mm height or more at or around double buttom shell plating below no. 6 hold (bat joint point
       near flame no. 151) on or around the center of the transverse hull phase, where the hull bridge
       was originated. …”
vedrørende et uheld med et skib, apl zeebrücke (benævnt ”az”), som efter det oplyste var
bygget med samme ”structural design” som mol comfort, fremgår under et punkt 3, “de-
fects in warning” i stævningen bl.a.:
       ”…
       in may 2010, defendant at nagasaki dock yard completed building of az, and az was sent to
       a trade of asia/europe. on december 13, 2011, with her age of about 1,5 year, she, on the
       voyage from singapore to hong kong, had a buckling deformation with longitudinal length of
       about 3.6m at but joint part near flame no. 151 on the double bottom shell plating below no. 6
       hold in midway of her hull. the weather at that time was influenced by the low pressure at an
       area of singapore-hong kong, but the max wind was 25 knots (13m/s) (wind force 6) and the
       significant wave height was 3-4m. defendant, having had a report re this accident, considered it
       arisen out of longitudinal sharing force, evaluated the longitudinal strength, and reported its
       result to a japanese company, who substantially managed az. in december 2012, special sur-
       vey on az was made, and az effected the permanent repair. at that time, defendant provided
       the owner with necessary plans and sent a superintendent. on june 17, 2013, this breach inci-
       dent happened, and defendant informed mol of information re this az buckling deformation
       incident. before that time, there was no such information from defendant. … “
ved en stævning af 4. april 2014 er der ved the high court of the hong kong special admini-
strative region, court of 1st instance, anlagt en retssag af en lang række erstatningssøgende
parter, herunder trygs forsikringstager i nærværende sag, linak a/s, mod en række sagsøg-
te parter, herunder danmar lines, som efter det oplyste skal være koncernforbundet med
dhl. det fremgår af et bilag til stævningen, at der er henvist til en sea waybill med et do-
kumentnummer, som svarer til det nummer, som er oplyst i nærværende sags bilag l.
af en protokoludskrift af den 16. april 2015 i en tysk retssag ved hanseatisches oberlandesge-
rich hamburg, 6. civilafdeling, vedrørende samme forlis som i nærværende sag, fremgår bl.a.
følgende:
       ”domstolen påpeger, at der fortsat er et ganske betydeligt behov for yderligere afklaring og be-
       visførelse vedrørende spørgsmålet om ansvarsfrihed. sagsøgte skal fremkomme med yderligere
                                                     - 23 -
      oplysninger, især vedrørende de ”buckling deformations”, der blev konstateret i 2010. det er
      også nødvendigt, at der fremskaffes yderligere oplysninger vedrørende spørgsmålet om de
      dybgangsforskelle, der blev konstateret lige inden afsejlingen. domstolen beder om, at rappor-
      terne fra den japanske kommission fremlægges på tysk. det ville også være relevant at frem-
      lægge de undersøgelser, der refereres til i rapporterne, med de pågældende konklusioner set i
      forhold til henholdsvis sikkerhedsgodkendelserne og klasseinddelingerne. derefter skal der ef-
      ter det foreliggende sandsynligvis også foretages en vurdering af en teknisk ekspert, hvilket vil
      blive meget tidskrævende og dyrt.
      domstolen påpeger, at begge parter skal fremkomme med oplysninger vedrørende telefonsam-
      talen og prisaftalen. i givet fald skal det også anføres, om parterne tidligere har haft forretnings-
      forbindelse med hinanden, og hvordan aftalerne i den forbindelse blev indgået. det kan være af
      betydning, hvis noget ikke har været drøftet i den konkrete telefonsamtale.
      domstolen påpeger endvidere, at oprettelsen af garantifonden efter domstolens opfattelse ikke
      spiller nogen rolle her.
      domstolen tilråder, at man indgår forlig for at undgå en meget langvarig og dyr bevisførelse.
      dette forlig kunne under afvejning af alle gensidige risici og også under hensyntagen til an-
      svarsbegrænsninger være udformet således, at sagsøgte forpligter sig til at betale 4.000 eur til
      sagsøger ved ophævelse af sagsomkostninger.”
i en mail til trygs advokat har advokat sabine rittmeister redegjort for omstændighederne
omkring retsmødet i hamburg den 16. april 2015 og suppleret oplysningerne i protokollen.
forklaringer
der har ikke været afgivet forklaringer under sagen.
parternes synspunkter
for tryg, er der i det væsentlige procederet i overensstemmelse med påstandsdokumentet af
25. oktober 2015, hvoraf bl.a. fremgår:
      ”1. skibet mol comfort var usødygtigt ved rejsens begyndelse
      det gøres gældende, at skibet mol comfort ikke var sødygtigt ved rejsens begyndelse,
      idet havariet, som indtrådte ved, at skibet brækkede i to dele, medens skibet befandt sig
      på åbent hav, selvsagt ellers ikke kunne være indtrådt. det er ubestrideligt, at et havari,
      der opstår på denne måde er udtryk for, at skibet ikke var sødygtigt.
      sagsøgte er præsumptivt ansvarlig som kontraherende transportør for tab af lasten om-
      bord i skibet, jf. sølovens § 275, der gælder præceptivt for transporten, jf. § 252.
      det påhviler sagsøgte at godtgøre, at der af sagsøgte og sagsøgtes undertransportører og
      disses kontrakthjælpere ikke er begået nogen fejl eller forsømmelse med henblik på at
      sørge for, at skibet var sødygtigt ved rejsens begyndelse. kredsen af personer, som sag-
                                                  - 24 -
søgte hæfter for i denne forbindelse omfatter i hvert fald de personer, der er omfattet af
sølovens § 151.
for at ansvarsfrihed efter sølovens § 276 kan komme på tale, må sagsøgte således godtgø-
re,
• hvad der var årsagen - eller årsagerne - til havariet, og
• at de således påviste årsager ikke beroede på nogen fejl eller forsømmelse begået af no-
gen, som sagsøgte svarer for.
det er ikke – og bør ikke være – muligt at opnå ansvarsfrihed ved benyttelse af et usø-
dygtigt skib, hvis årsagen til usødygtigheden og det deraf følgende havari ikke påvises af
sagsøgte.
2. skibet var overlastet
vedrørende tillastningen af skibet og vægtfordelingen af lasten anføres det i den officielle
japanske undersøgelsesrapport, at havariet kan skyldes en overskridelse af skibets laste-
evne, jf. s. 5 i rapporten [bilag 1, under ”assessment of investigation results”+. denne
mulighed angives som en af tre mulige årsager til havariet:
since fracturing accident occurred after this event, three possibilities are hypothesized that:
• the real loads acting on the hull at the time of the accident exceeded the estimation
• the ship’s hull strength had been reduced due to possible presence of residual buckling deforma-
tions on the bottom shell plates or any other reasons; or
• both of the above elements were combined.
sagsøgte er [opfordring 6 i replik af 14. oktober 2014] opfordret til at dokumentere, hvilke
forholdsregler og undersøgelser der blev foretaget af rederiet for at sikre, at skibets last,
herunder vægten af lastede containere, ballastvand, m.v. ikke faktisk overskred skibets
bærevne. sagsøgte har ikke besvaret den nævnte provokation.
det gøres gældende, at det ikke er godtgjort af sagsøgte, at havariet ikke er forårsaget
som en faktisk overlastning og dermed overskridelse af skibets bæreevne, som ikke bur-
de være forekommet, som påpeges som en mulig årsag til havariet i rapporten.
3. skibets stabilitet var kompromitteret ved rejsens begyndelse
sagsøgte er [opfordring 8 i processkrift 1 af 18. maj 2015] opfordret til at redegøre for og
dokumentere skibets stabilitetsberegninger på tidspunktet for rejsens begyndelse i singa-
pore, herunder dokumentere skibets dybgang og bøjningsmoment og redegøre for og
dokumentere, at skibets stabilitetsberegninger var forsvarlige og hensigtsmæssige
der er ikke af de sagsøgte tilvejebragt nogen dokumentation for, at der af rederiet blev
foretaget nødvendige, relevante og adækvate undersøgelser og vurderinger vedrørende
skibets stabilitet.
                                              - 25 -
som bilag 23 er fremlagt en kopi af afsnit 6.3.1 i bilag 1. af side 44 [under [“study for the
ship”+ fremgår følgende
       ”the deflection of the hull obtained by reading the measured draught values was
       0.63 m at the time of departure of the ship before the accident. the still water ver-
       tical bending moment estimated using the loading calculator when the container
       cargoes were loaded in accordance with the declared container weights and load-
       ing plan was 103% of the allowable design value. on the other hand, the still water
       bending moment estimated by direct calculation using full-ship fem model for
       hull deflection (0.63 m) was 126% of the allowable value. (if the effect of buoyant
       force due to deflection was considered, the result obtained was 118% of the allow-
       able value.) the considerations below were made with regard to the relationship
       among cargo weight, hull deflection, and still water vertical bending moment.”
som det fremgår heraf, at skibets stabilitet var kompromitteret ved rejsens begyndelse.
sagsøgte har ikke godtgjort, at den kompromitterede stabilitet ikke kunne være undgået,
og at den ikke havde betydning for det indtrådte havari.
4. buckling deformations
efter det foreliggende, herunder den officielle japanske undersøgelsesrapport, må det
lægges til grund, at sagsøgte, eller nogen for hvilke sagsøgte svarer, jf. sølovens § 151, var
vidende om, at der inden rejsens begyndelse var konstateret deformationer i bunden af
skibets skrog.
uanset dette lod sagsøgte rejsen påbegynde med det pågældende skib.
de sagsøgte har fremsat et synspunkt om, at det ikke skulle have nogen betydning for de
sagsøgtes ansvar, at der ikke blev foretaget nærmere undersøgelser af de ”buckling de-
formations”, der i 2010 blev konstateret af rederiet i bunden af ”mol comfort” ved last-
rum nr. 5, idet ”det ikke var disse deformationer, som forårsagede ulykken”. synspunktet
forekommer ikke velbegrundet, idet det netop fremgår af sagens bilag 1, at havariet op-
stod som følge af ”buckling deformations” i bunden af ”mol comfort”:
       “it was inferred that the hull fracture originated from the bottom shell plates in the
       midship part of the ship. about 20mm buckling deformations was detected in the
       bottom shell plates during safety inspections of the sister ships.”
det gøres gældende, at de sagsøgte som kontraherende transportører hæfter for, at der
ikke af rederiet blev foretaget nærmere undersøgelser i 2010 af årsagen til disse deforma-
tioner og ikke mindst af deres betydning for skibets sødygtighed.
det er ikke godtgjort, at en adækvat professionel vurdering af årsagen til, at de pågæl-
dende deformationer var opstået og foretagelse af en forstærkning af skibet på dette
punkt, som efterfølgende også blev foretaget af søsterskibene til mol comfort, ikke ville
have forhindret, at mol comfort brækkede i to dele.
den omstændighed, at mol comfort ikke har fået pålæg som følge af de nævnte deforma-
tioner i forbindelse med port state control disculperer ikke sagsøgte allerede fordi det ik-
ke vides, om den inspektør, der foretog port state control den 5. marts 2013 blev gjort be-
                                                    - 26 -
     kendt med revnedannelserne af rederiet. en port state control har ikke til formål at udgø-
     re en gennemgang af alle tekniske forhold vedrørende skibet, og den omstændighed, at
     der ikke gives anmærkning betyder ikke, at rederiet fritages for selv at foretage forholds-
     regler for at sørge for, at skibet er sødygtigt, særligt i relation til deformationer, endsige at
     rederiet som følge heraf kan gå ud fra, at skibet er sødygtigt.
     i forhold til sagsøgtes bemærkning om, at skibet ikke har fået ”pålæg af klassifikationssel-
     skabet” bemærkes, at det ikke er godtgjort,
     • hvilke deformationer i skibet, der var til stede på det pågældende tidspunkt, hvor et
     klasse-survey blev foretaget,
     • at klassen af rederiet blev gjort opmærksom på deformationerne,
     • at klassens undersøgelse omfattede de pågældende deformationer.
     det fremhæves endelig, at ansvaret for skibets sødygtighed påhviler skibets rederi, og at
     ansvaret for at sikre denne sødygtighed ikke kan delegeres til et klassifikationsselskab.
     5. afgørelse truffet af hanseatic oberlandsgericht, hamburg
     hanseatic oberlandsgericht, hamburg har i sag 413 hko 170/13 vedrørende det under
     denne sag omhandlede spørgsmål, om en kontraherende transportørs (hæftelses)ansvar
     for rederiets fejl tilkendegivet, på baggrund af en bevisbedømmelse af det materiale, som
     også indgår i denne sag, at det ikke er godtgjort, at der af rederiet er udvist ”due diligen-
     ce” i forhold til at foretage alle nødvendige forholdsregler for at sikre ”mol comforts”
     sødygtighed ved rejsens begyndelse.
     det gøres gældende, at der ikke er grundlag for, at sø- og handelsretten skulle foretage
     en anden bedømmelse af dette spørgsmål end den, som er foretaget ved den tyske appel-
     ret, idet nærværende sag vedrører de samme faktiske og retlige omstændigheder som
     den ved hanseatic oberlandsgericht pådømte sag. hensynet til at undgå uforenelige
     retsafgørelser taler med vægt for, at den tyske appelrets afgørelse følges af sø- og han-
     delsretten i denne sag.”
for dhl global forwarding (denmark) a/s, er der i det væsentlige procederet i overens-
stemmelse med påstandsdokument af 26. oktober 2015, hvoraf bl.a. fremgår:
     ”1)    dhl gør gældende, at dhl ikke er ansvarlig for bortkomsten af tryg’s forsik-
            ringstagers gods, idet hverken dhl selv eller nogen, som dhl måtte svare for, har
            udvist fejl eller forsømmelser, der har medvirket til tabet, se søloven § 275, stk. 1.
            ud fra de foreliggende oplysninger kan retten lægge til grund, at mol com-
            fort’s forlis skyldes pludselig opståen af en revne i skibets bund midt i lastrum 6.
            der henvises i denne forbindelse til rapporterne fra den japanske undersøgelses-
            komité, især bilag f final report, side 6 og 7 [under ”1. information regarding the
            accident and buckling deformations in the bottom shell plates of the sister ships”+.
                                           - 27 -
   det fremgår endvidere af bilag f, bl.a. på side 8, [under ”1.4 safety inspections of
   the sister ships”+ at der blev fundet ”buckling deformations” på nogle af mol
   comfort’s søsterskibe, men derimod ikke på andre sammenlignelige skibe af
   samme størrelse. dette tyder på, at der er tale om fejlkonstruering af mol com-
   fort og søsterskibene. ejeren af mol comfort har da også udtaget stævning
   ved retten i tokyo mod det japanske værft, der byggede mol comfort og sø-
   sterskibene, se stævning fremlagt som bilag h.
   …
3) såfremt sø-og handelsretten når frem til, at mol comfort var usødygtigt enten
   ved rejsens begyndelse, eller at det blev usødygtigt under rejsen, gør dhl gæl-
   dende, at dhl eller nogen, som dhl måtte svare for, udviste tilbørlig omhu med
   henblik på at sørge for, at skibet var sødygtigt ved rejsens begyndelse, se søloven §
   276, stk. 2.
   a)     det bestrides, at skibet var overlastet ved rejsens begyndelse. der henvises i
          denne forbindelse til den foreløbige rapport fra den japanske undersøgelses-
          komité, bilag e, side 4 midt [bilag 1, under ”results of investigation”+. det
          fremgår heraf, at de belastninger, der påvirkede skroget på uheldstidspunk-
          tet, kun udgjorde 67% af den samlede kraft, som skroget kunne tåle.
          det fremgår endvidere af den foreløbige rapport side 5, 1. afsnit, [bilag 1,
          ”assessment of investigation results”+ at skibet ved tidligere lejligheder
          havde været udsat for belastningsforhold tæt på brudstyrken uden proble-
          mer, ligesom det fremgår af rapporten side 10 under punkt 8.5, *bilag 1, ”8.5
          uncertainty factors involved in the evaluation of ultimate hull girder
          strength and required rule values”+ at den faktiske styrke af skroget var
          126% i forhold til klassifikationsselskabets krav (et plus på 26%).
          tryg har med henvisning til side 44 i den foreløbige rapport, fremlagt som
          bilag 23, *”6.3.1 effects of loading”+ fremført, at skibet var overlastet. dette
          er en forkert udlægning af, hvad der skrives i rapporten. det fremhævede
          afsnit drejer sig om skibets ”still water vertical bending moment”, der er ud-
          tryk for fordeling af de samlede vægte af og på skibet, bl.a. gods, bunkers,
          ballastvand, stores m.v. undersøgelseskomitéen anfører på baggrund af en
          beregning, hvori indgår alle kendte vægte, at skibets ”still water vertical
          bending moment” var på 103%, hvilket må siges at være acceptabelt, idet
          skibet vil forbruge bl.a. bunkers og proviant under rejsen.
          det gøres på denne baggrund gældende, at der intet var at udsætte på ski-
          bets stabilitet ved rejsens begyndelse.
   b)     det gøres gældende af dhl, at skibet opfyldte alle krav stillet af klassen.
          skibet var konstrueret og bygget i henhold til klassens krav.
          skibet havde overholdt de periodiske (årlige) klasseeftersyn, og skibet havde
          endda afsluttet det omfattende 5-årige hovedeftersyn 19 dage forud for
          uheldet. klassen var bekendt med eventuelle konstateringer af ”buckling de-
          formations” i bunden af lastrum 5, uden at dette gav klassen anledning til
          pålæg til skibet. det kan derfor lægges til grund, at de ”buckling deformati-
                                          - 28 -
          ons” i lastrum 5, som den japanske undersøgelseskomité omtaler, men som
          ikke er nærmere dokumenterede af tryg, ikke har haft indflydelse på eller
          betydning for forliset. det skal endvidere fremhæves, at revnen, der førte til,
          at skibet knækkede, opstod i midten af bunden af lastrum 6, hvorfor der ikke
          er sammenhæng mellem eventuelle ”buckling deformations” i lastrum 5 og
          forliset.
   c)     det gøres endvidere gældende, at dhl som kontraherende transpor-
          tør/speditør ikke kan pålægges et nærmest objektivt ansvar for den udføren-
          de transportørs undersøgelser forud for rejsens begyndelse, sådan som tryg
          lægger op til i processkrifterne.
          det bestrides, at søloven § 151, der vedrører en reders arbejdsgiveransvar, er
          relevant i denne sag.
          dhl viderekontraherede transporten til det anerkendte linjerederi hyundai,
          og dhl havde ikke på forhånd kendskab til, hvilket skib, der skulle udføre
          transporten.
4) såfremt sø- og handelsretten når frem til, at dhl er ansvarlig for bortkomsten af
   tryg’s forsikringstagers gods, gøres det gældende, at det påstævnte krav skal re-
   duceres.
   …
   endvidere har tryg’s forsikringstager udtaget stævning for en del af kravet ved
   retten i hong kong, se bilag d.
   …
   stævning i hong kong ses at være indgivet før, der blev udtaget stævning ved sø-
   og handelsretten, hvorfor denne del af kravet skal udgå. det ses at dreje sig om
   fakturaerne fremlagt som bilag 18c og 18d. beløbet ses omregnet at udgøre dkk
   177.223,80.
   efter dhl’s opfattelse kan tryg’s krav maksimalt være som følger:
   købsfaktura og fragt i alt                           dkk          1.074.438,74
   fradrag selvrisiko                                   dkk             25.000,00
                                                        dkk          1.049.438,74
   fradrag krav fremsat i hong kong                     dkk            177.223,80
                                                        dkk            872.214,94
                                                        …
                                                        dkk            872.214,94
   det gøres gældende, at det skal have processuel skadevirkning for tryg, at hver-
   ken tryg eller dennes forsikringstager har anmeldt kravet i den af rederiet i japan
   oprettede begrænsningsfond.
5) det bestrides, at referatet af et telefonretsmøde afholdt i hanseatisches oberlan-
   desgericht, hamburg, (bilag 21) kan tages som udtryk for, at appelretten har taget
                                                    - 29 -
              stilling til ansvarsspørgsmålet. retten udtaler sig om spørgsmålet om omfanget af
              omkostninger ved fremskaffelse af beviser i forhold til det omtvistede beløb.
              appelretten har efter det oplyste aldrig truffet afgørelse i sagen.”
sø- og handelsrettens begrundelse og resultat
årsagen til ”mol comforts” forlis den 17. juni 2013 undervejs fra singapore til jeddah fore-
ligger ikke afklaret med de fremlagte undersøgelsesrapporter. der er i rapporterne peget på
nogle forhold, som kan have haft betydning for forlisets indtræden, herunder navnlig fore-
komst af ”buckling deformations” i bunden af skibets lastrum 5 samt skibets ”still water ver-
tical bending moment” (bøjningsmoment) på afsejlingstidspunktet. om det sidstnævnte for-
hold bemærker rettens sagkyndige retsmedlemmer, at skibet ikke burde være afsejlet fra
singapore med et ”still water vertical bending moment” på 103 %. rettens juridiske dommer
tilslutter sig denne vurdering.
under hensyn til det anførte og idet der ikke i øvrigt foreligger omstændigheder, der kan fø-
re til en anden vurdering, findes dhl ikke at have løftet den bevisbyrde for ansvarsfrihed,
der efter sølovens § 275, stk. 1, påhviler dhl som kontraherende transportør af det bort-
komne containergods. dhl må herefter anses for erstatningsansvarlig over for tryg, der ved
at have udbetalt erstatning til sin forsikringstager linak a/s ved subrogation er indtrådt i
linak a/s’ erstatningskrav.
for så vidt angår trygs erstatningspåstand bemærkes med hensyn til posten på 177.223,80
kr., som dhl har rejst indsigelse imod med henvisning til en i hong kong verserende rets-
sag mellem trygs forsikringstager linak a/s og danmar lines, at stævningen i sagen er da-
teret den 4. april 2014, på hvilket tidspunkt tryg havde udbetalt erstatning til linak a/s og -
den 23. august 2013 - var subrogeret i linak a/s’s krav. der er derfor ikke grundlag for at
fratrække dette beløb i trygs erstatningsopgørelse. herefter og idet der ikke i øvrigt på no-
gen begrundet måde er rejst indsigelser imod trygs påstand, der udgøres af summen af en
række købsfakturaer og fragtomkostninger samt med fradrag af en selvrisiko på 25.000 kr.,
tages trygs påstand til følge.
                                               - 30 -
efter sagens værdi og udfald skal dhl betale 85.500 kr. i sagsomkostninger til tryg, hvoraf
25.500 kr. udgør dækning af trygs udlæg til retsafgift i forhold til det vundne beløb, mens
resten dækker rimelige udgifter til advokatbistand.
                                     thi kendes for ret:
dhl global forwarding (denmark) a/s skal betale 1.049.502,35 kr. til tryg forsikring a/s
med tillæg af procesrente fra den 17. juni 2014.
inden 14 dage betaler dhl global forwarding (denmark) a/s sagsomkostninger med 85.500
kr. til tryg forsikring a/s.
sagsomkostningsbeløbet forrentes efter rentelovens § 8 a.
karsten riis andersen                 claus forum petersen                     ole sehested
                         claus nikolajsen                      flemming ipsen
                                             (sign.)
                                          ___ ___ ___
                                 udskriftens rigtighed bekræftes
                            sø- og handelsretten, den 18. januar 2016
