Casualty

A trans-Andean, above ground oil pipeline became displaced
and ruptured where it crossed the principal watercourse in Bolivia high in the Altiplano region of the Andes where the temperature changes and other environmental conditions are extreme.

The rupture occurred during the wet season when the river was
in spate resulting in rapid and widespread oil pollution of a vast
area including an environmentally sensitive and protected lake before the leak was detected and stopped. The clean up costs were very substantial.

Our client was the primary reinsurer of the operator's local liability policy and had concerns about the underwriting
of the risk and coverage. Forum was secured in the London Commercial Court. Eventually, ten parties from across the world - insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries - were joined
in the dispute.

The dispute was resolved in mediation, our client contributing a fraction of the sum predicted by the market.