Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Staged loss / scuttling · Yemen (offshore) · 2011–2019

Brillante Virtuoso tanker

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 1 people died.
    Surveyor David Mockett, killed by a car bomb in Aden.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

A tanker was set on fire off Aden in 2011 in what was presented as a pirate attack. A London court found in 2019 that the owner had deliberately caused the loss; the surveyor who inspected the ship was killed by a car bomb.

about 5.7: 1 estimateInsurance claimed vs ship's market value
About US$77m claimed against a market value of about US$13.5m. Estimate from the court's figures.
What?
On 5–6 July 2011 armed men posing as pirates boarded the Liberian-flagged tanker Brillante Virtuoso off Aden and set off an incendiary device, and the ship became a constructive total loss. A London court found in 2019 that the owner had deliberately caused the loss; the surveyor who inspected the ship was killed by a car bomb. High Court of England and Wales
Where?
Gulf of Aden off Aden, Yemen; cargo transferred at Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates; litigated in the High Court in London.
When?
Attack on 5–6 July 2011; Mockett killed in July 2011; cargo transferred 4–27 September 2011. Owner's claim struck out in May 2016; High Court judgment on 7 October 2019.
Who?
Gained
Lost
  • Mortgagee-interest insurers (not named in the source) — Paid the bank about US$64m and lost the claim brought in its name against the war-risks underwriters (2019) High Court of England and Wales
  • Piraeus Bank AE — Ordered to pay costs on the indemnity basis, with an interim payment of £8.7m (from an excerpt of the 2019 costs ruling) High Court of England and Wales
  • Suez Fortune Investments (owner, beneficially owned by Marios Iliopoulos) — War-risks claim of about US$77m struck out in May 2016; the ship was scrapped Insurance Business
Harmed
  • David Mockett, British surveyor — Killed by a car bomb in Aden in July 2011 after inspecting the ship; Lloyd's List reported his family was never compensated Lloyd's List
Why?
The High Court found the attackers 'only pretended to be pirates', that 'an attempted insurance fraud is not an act of piracy', and that the loss 'was caused by the wilful misconduct of the Owner, Mr. Iliopoulos'. It also found the fuel oil had been misdescribed as a bitumen mixture to evade Chinese import duty. High Court of England and Wales
How?
The ship, bought for US$46m in 2008 and worth about US$13.5m, was insured for about US$77m against war risks while its owner owed about US$62m; the fire made it a constructive total loss and a war-risks claim followed. The underwriters, led by Talbot, refused, and the courts upheld the refusal. High Court of England and Wales
In proportion The insurance claimed, about US$77m, was about 5.7 times the ship's market value of about US$13.5m (estimate). High Court of England and Wales
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 5–6 July 2011 the Liberian-flagged tanker Brillante Virtuoso, built in 1992, was carrying fuel oil from Kerch, Ukraine, to China for the charterer Solal Shipping SA. Armed men posing as pirates boarded off Aden and set off an incendiary device in the engine-room area.

The ship became a constructive total loss and was scrapped. Its cargo was moved to another ship at Khor Fakkan between 4 and 27 September 2011. An anti-pollution vessel attended; the judgment mentions no spill.

The ship was insured for US$55 million plus US$22 million for disbursements and increased value, about US$77 million in total. Its market value was about US$13.5 million; it had been bought for US$46 million in 2008. The owner's debt was about US$62 million.

The war-risks underwriters, led by Talbot Underwriting, refused the claim. The owner's own claim was struck out in May 2016 for disclosure failures. On 7 October 2019, after a 52-day trial, the High Court dismissed the claim brought by the mortgagee bank and found that the loss was caused by the wilful misconduct of the owner, Marios Iliopoulos. The court also found the fuel oil had been misdescribed as a bitumen mixture to evade Chinese import duty.

David Mockett, the British surveyor who inspected the ship, was killed by a car bomb in Aden in July 2011. Lloyd's List reported that his family was never compensated.

  1. 2008Ship bought for US$46m
  2. 2011Boarded and set on fire off Aden (5–6 July); surveyor David Mockett killed by a car bomb in Aden (July); cargo transferred at Khor Fakkan (September)
  3. 2016Owner arrested in London for conspiracy to defraud (about April); owner's claim struck out (May)
  4. 2019High Court dismisses bank's claim and finds the loss deliberate (7 Oct); costs ruling against the bank

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“only pretended to be pirates”

“an attempted insurance fraud is not an act of piracy”

“was caused by the wilful misconduct of the Owner, Mr. Iliopoulos”

“complete fabrication”

Flaux J, on the owner's account, as reported by Insurance Business · May 2016 · Insurance Business

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • A pirate attack on a tanker in the Gulf of Aden
  • A war-risks insurance claim for a total loss

Recorded

  • The armed men "only pretended to be pirates" (High Court)
  • Loss caused by the owner's wilful misconduct
  • About US$77m claimed for a ship worth about US$13.5m
  • Cargo misdescribed to evade Chinese import duty
  • The surveyor who inspected the ship was killed; his family was reported never compensated

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Paid by mortgagee-interest insurers to Piraeus Bank≈ $64m
These insurers then claimed the bank's rights against the war-risks underwriters; that claim was dismissed in 2019.
Currency: USD · Window: 2011–2019. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2016Dismissed
    Owner's war-risks claim struck out
    Commercial Court, London (Flaux J) · Civil · Suez Fortune Investments (owner) → War-risks underwriters led by Talbot Underwriting

    The owner's claim was struck out in May 2016 for disclosure failures; the judge called the owner's account a "complete fabrication". Insurance Business

  2. 2019Defendant won$77m claimed
    Suez Fortune Investments v Talbot Underwriting [2019] EWHC 2599 (Comm)
    High Court of England and Wales, Commercial Court (Teare J) · Civil · Piraeus Bank AE (mortgagee), with mortgagee-interest insurers claiming its rights → Talbot Underwriting and other war-risks underwriters

    After a 52-day trial the court dismissed the claim, finding the attackers only pretended to be pirates and the loss was caused by the owner's wilful misconduct. High Court of England and Wales

  3. 2019Defendant won£8.7m paid
    Costs ruling [2019] EWHC 3300 (Comm)
    High Court of England and Wales, Commercial Court · Civil · Piraeus Bank AE → War-risks underwriters

    The bank was ordered to pay costs on the indemnity basis, with an interim payment of £8.7m (from a search excerpt of the ruling). High Court of England and Wales

Insurers

  1. Claim refused$77m claimed
    War-risks underwriters: Talbot Underwriting (lead), Hiscox, QBE, Chaucer, Markel, Catlin, Aprilgrange, Brit, Novae, GAI → Suez Fortune Investments (owner); Piraeus Bank AE (mortgagee)
    Stated reason: The loss was not piracy but an attempted insurance fraud caused by the owner's wilful misconduct

    The underwriters refused the war-risks claim; the High Court upheld their position in 2019. High Court of England and Wales

  2. Paid$64m paid (about)
    Mortgagee-interest insurers (not named in the source) → Piraeus Bank AE

    These insurers paid the bank about US$64m and then claimed its rights against the war-risks underwriters, without success. High Court of England and Wales

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Spill
None recorded
The judgment mentions no spill; cargo transferred to another ship
Deaths
1
Surveyor David Mockett, Aden, July 2011

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsDeaths reported

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Record

  • None on record The cargo tonnage was not found.
  • None on record No inquest verdict or prosecution for the killing of David Mockett was confirmed.
  • None on record No criminal outcome was found after the owner's arrest in London in about April 2016.
  • None on record The £8.7m interim costs payment comes from a search excerpt of the 2019 costs ruling, not the full text.

Did the harm stop?

Not applicable: the ship was a constructive total loss and was scrapped; the cargo was transferred to another ship.

Who paid?

The family of surveyor David Mockett, reported never compensated; and the mortgagee-interest insurers, which paid about US$64m and lost the claim brought in the bank's name.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators✓ Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Courts

  2. Costs ruling [2019] EWHC 3300 (Comm)
    High Court of England and Wales · 2019

Press and investigations

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
  • EACOP pipeline: insurers decline, construction continues Uganda / Tanzania · 2021–2026
    • Hiscox (Insurer) — here: War-risks underwriter; there: Named as still willing to insure (2024)
    • Chaucer (Insurer) — here: War-risks underwriter; there: Named as still willing to insure (2024, 2025)
    • Brit (Insurer) — here: War-risks underwriter; there: Named by campaigners as a holdout (2025)
  • Insurers of the Carmichael coal mine Australia · 2015–2025
    • QBE (Insurer) — here: War-risks underwriter; there: Insurer that said it would not support the mine (Dec 2018)
    • Markel (Insurer) — here: War-risks underwriter; there: Listed by campaigners as not having ruled out cover
    • Brit (Insurer) — here: War-risks underwriter; there: Lloyd's insurer; statement of 24 February 2021
Terms used on this page

Insurance

Mortgagee interest insurance
Insurance that protects the bank lending against a ship if the owner's own insurance does not pay.
Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.

Law and courts

Wilful misconduct
Deliberate wrongdoing, or acting with conscious disregard of a known risk.
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