| Award 1135

Award N°1135 – (2nd degree) – Vessel grounded during a river transit – Intervention of a tug – Mere towing service but no assistance. Following a main engine breakdown in river Seine, a RoRo vessel went aground, she then managed to tie up alongside a close by jetty. The presence of a tug was required while waiting for the flood tide, then the vessel was successfully refloated using her bow thruster and with the tug in attendance. In the meantime, the main engine having been fixed, the vessel made her way towards her destination. The Tribunal ruled that, at no stage, neither the vessel nor her cargo were in a dangerous situation and therefore employment performed by the attending tug cannot be defined as « assistance » but were mere towing service and tide watch.