CJ says Westerhaven must pay $11,050,000 in damages

A ruling in the case of the Westerhaven was delivered today by the Chief Justice, Abdulai Conteh. It is a landmark ruling, indeed the largest amount ever awarded for damages caused to the Barrier Reef. The cargo ship ran aground on the reef about fifteen miles north east of Dangriga back in 2009.  Owners of the Westerhaven were accused of negligence since the damage to the corals was extensive. Westerhaven accepted responsibility and the question before the court was how much compensation would have been awarded. The Department of the Environment, the Fisheries Department, the Port Authority and Healthy Reefs Initiative all took part in preparing the case.  Estimates conducted by different sources, ranged from two million dollars to thirty million dollars. The CJ today awarded eleven million fifty thousand dollars to the government.  News Five’s Jose Sanchez has followed the case ever since the incident was reported.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting

The Westerhaven ran aground on the reef on January thirteenth 2009.  The Ship’s Captain Fritz Shcroeder absconded, but the relevant authorities were quick to assess the damage. After a year and four months, the owners of the Westerhaven have been ordered to pay over eleven million dollars.  According to Deanne Barrow, the victory came as a result of cooperation by all stakeholders.

Deanne Barrow, Attorney for GOB

“This judgment is the culmination of efforts by several government departments and by the environmental community in Belize. It began with the arrest of the ship by the then Ports Commissioner Major Jones and he did a report on negligence and liability of the captain and as you know, one day before the trial the ship-owners conceded liability and I think it’s as a result of that report by major Jones. Then we had the reports of Keira Foreman, Miguel Alamilla and Kenrick Gordon from the Fisheries Department, the DOE, the Hol Chan Marine Reserve who dived the site and then did a report on the injuries that were sustained in the area and just documenting it.”

The defense’s strategy relied heavily on a 1976 treaty which would have limited any liability to two million dollars.  But in addition to the eleven million, the judge also granted a three percent rate of interest per annum from the date of the grounding.

Darell Bradley, Attorney for the Westerhaven
“It’s $11,050,000 Belize dollars and the chief justice came up with that ruling based on a figure he had ascribed which is $2,000 per square meter.”

Jose Sanchez

“It’s eleven million dollars but it could have been more so how do you see it? Is it a loss? Your clients knew they had to pay.”

Darell Bradley

In terms of the overall case, our issue was never an issue of whether we had to pay.  The issue was always the quantum of damage and what amount we had to pay.  The chief justice recounted that when the trial was held, we readily acceded to the issue of liability and learned senior counsel Michael Young, conceded the negligence on the part of the ship’s captain.  So it was always an issue to the applicability of the treaty and the chief justice said that it was the 1976 treaty that was applied. However, he said that treat does not apply to damages as it relates to environmental damage and reef damage in this case.”

Melanie Mcfield, Marine Biologist,

“I feel relief that the ruling went through and we weren’t constrained by that 1976 limit on liability. That was our main fear that would limit our liability to two million dollars. So that said the settlement amount is not what we hoped for but these are grey areas in terms of how you quantify the damage and this is the largest settlement we’ve ever seen in Belize. I think the fact that we made it all the way through the court system, we brought in experts and everything was done up to speed, the issue that the Chief Justice brought up that I hoped my conservation community and the government would follow up on is to put some legislation in place that would enable the courts to follow the guidelines of the Habitat Equivalency Analysis that was the method used to quantify the injury.   The judge felt like he couldn’t apply that because we don’t have the laws in place that would enable that.”

Major Lloyd Jones, Former Ports Commissioner

“I think that in terms of the legislation we are attempting to control or regulate human behavior.  And quite honestly, in my view unless there are stiff penalties for those responsible for the safe navigation of the ship, then this kind of thing is likely to occur. I think that people when they come to Belize, they have to recognize they are in a sensitive marine environment and they have to conduct themselves accordingly.”

Jose Sanchez

“I remember when you showed us the charts of the path the Westerhaven should have taken, it could not have been a simple error.”

Major Lloyd Jones

“You’re quite right. I think the board of the Port Authority might besieged of that issue as we speak. But they are looking to see how we could, by legislation, require ships to take certain navigation corridors when they are within certain distances of the barrier reef.”
Darell Bradley

We of course have our own view and we will go back to our clients as it regards as to whether it will push forward with an appeal of this decision.”

Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.

Belize’s Barrier Reef remains on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in Danger since June 2009.