Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Morts Dock & Engineering Co Ltd (The Wagon Mound No 1) [1961] UKPC 1 (18 January 1961)
Overseas Tankship is a judgment from United Kingdom on 18 January 1961. Cite it as [1961] UKPC 1. Search it by the party names, the citation [1961] UKPC 1, or United Kingdom judgment.
united-kingdom
January 18, 1961
UNITED KINGDOM
Overseas Tankship
The Wagon Mound No 1
[1961] UKPC 1
Proceeding. Judgment. United Kingdom.
Held. In negligence, a is liable only for damage of a kind that was reasonably foreseeable; the old direct-consequence test of Re Polemis is no longer the law.
OVERSEAS TANKSHIP (UK) LTD v MORTS DOCK & ENGINEERING CO LTD (The Wagon Mound (No 1)) [1961] UKPC 1; [1961] AC 388 Privy Council 18 January 1961
Judges: Viscount Simonds, Lord Reid, Lord Radcliffe, Lord Tucker, Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest
Facts
Oil escaped from the defendant's ship into Sydney Harbour. It was ignited by welding sparks from the plaintiff's wharf and caused extensive fire damage. The trial judge found that some damage from fouling was foreseeable but fire was not.
Held
The Privy Council held that the defendant was not liable for the fire damage. The proper test in negligence is reasonable foreseeability of the kind of damage, not whether the damage was a direct consequence of the breach. Re Polemis was rejected.
Key Principles
1. Remoteness in negligence is governed by reasonable foreseeability of the type of harm.
2. The direct-consequence test of Re Polemis no longer applies.
3. The defendant is not liable for unforeseeable kinds of damage, even if the initial escape or breach was foreseeable.
Why It Matters in Sierra Leone
The Wagon Mound is the leading authority on remoteness of damage in negligence claims in Sierra Leone. It is applied in personal injury, property damage, and industrial accident cases when the defendant argues that the particular harm was unforeseeable.