Andrew Spink QC and Richard Hitchcock’s case featured in The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2014

The two Outer Temple Barristers are instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna partner Neil Smith in Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund Trustee Ltd v (1) Stena Line Ltd (2) P&O Ferries Ltd (3) Sealion Shipping Ltd (4) International Marine Transportation Ltd (5) Terence Brown.

This mammoth case concerns the £272m pension deficit liabilities belonging to the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund (MNRPF). At the heart of the dispute is how that liability should be apportioned between the participating employers of seamen employed in the British Merchant Navy.

Around 240 employers have joined the MNRPF since its inception in 1978, including oil majors and the main players in the shipping industry, such as Stena and P&O.

The proceedings concern the introduction of a deficit repair contribution regime under which all employers will be required to pay contributions to meet the MNRPF’s deficit, including those employers who have never before been required to pay such contributions.

The case goes to the heart of how the MNRPF will be funded to pay members’ benefits for years to come.

To read The Lawyer article click here.

News 6 Jan, 2014