South Korean shipbuilder HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC) recently announced a victory in a damages lawsuit filed by the international shipowner Greenwich Shipping S.A. The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the shipowner’s entire claim for damages—totaling 10.2 billion KRW (approximately $7.5113 million)—and ordered the shipowner to bear all litigation costs.
Meanwhile, in a separate damages lawsuit filed by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction against the Shipowner, the court ruled that the Shipowner must pay HJ Shipbuilding & Construction 816.01 million won (approximately $600,900) in damages. HJ Heavy Industries had initially sought 1.44228 billion won.
HJ Heavy Industries stated that this legal dispute stemmed from an engine incident that occurred on the “Poseidon Hellas” during repairs. The court determined that defects in the main engine repair work carried out by the shipowner itself were the primary cause of the incident.
HJ Shipbuilding & Construction stated that the incident occurred on December 30, 2020. At the time of the incident, the “Poseidon Hellas” was undergoing launch operations in a dry dock. During the launch, the vessel’s main engine malfunctioned, causing the ship to drift out of control in strong winds and collide with shipyard facilities—including the pier, workboats, and tugboats—as well as other vessels.
It is understood that during the repair period, the shipowner was responsible for maintenance work on the vessel’s main engine, while HJ Shipbuilding & Construction was responsible for the remaining hull repair work.
However, following the incident, the shipowner claimed that the accident was caused by inadequate dry-docking measures and the improper deployment of tugboats by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, and subsequently sought approximately 10.2 billion KRW in damages from the company.
The key issue in this dispute was the allocation of liability for the engine failure. HJ Shipbuilding & Construction argued: “The ship repair work had been completed; the main engine, which was the shipowner’s responsibility to maintain, had been verified by the shipowner inside the dry dock prior to undocking as being in proper working order. The engine failed under normal operating conditions, which falls within the scope of the shipowner’s responsibility.”
After deliberation, the court ruled that HJ Shipbuilding & Construction bore no liability for the incident and dismissed all of the shipowner’s claims.
Regarding the ruling, a representative from HJ Shipbuilding & Construction stated: “This ruling brings an end to this protracted dispute, allowing the company to eliminate the management uncertainty and associated liability risks that have persisted for many years.”