End of Rocknes court case

Hydro International - 

The Appeals Selection Committee of the Supreme Court in Norway has unanimously rejected the appeal which was filed when the State of Norway earlier this year was acquitted of the original NOK580 million claims of damages made after the Rocknes accident in 2004.

Eighteen seafarers lost their lives and a large amount of oil was spilt along the Norwegian coastline when M/V Rocknes hit a shoal in the narrow Vatlestraumen passage near Bergen, Norway, 19th January 2004. Cleaning costs amounted to more than NOK120 million.

A district court first ordered the State of Norway (i.e. the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Hydrographic Service) to pay close to NOK23 million in damages for having failed to include the shoal which the bulk carrier hit, in the Notices to Mariners published by the Norwegian Hydrographic Service.

The reason for not publishing the shoal of 9.4 metre was its proximity to the existing danger line in Norwegian Chart number 21 from 1941, in addition to its location within the red sector of Hilleren lighthouse. The new chart number 21, with depth contour lines instead of danger lines, was published and distributed in 2003.

In January 2011, the verdict was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which stated that the accident was most likely caused by navigational error by the ship's crew.

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