Admiralty/Marine Insurance

In Joe Ahoy, Inc. v. New York Marine and General Insurance Co., New Jersey Superior Court, Mommouth County (April 27, 2001), plaintiff sued underwriters seeking a declaration of coverage under a general liability policy for costs incurred in the clean up of diesel fuel which leaked from plaintiff's tug which sunk off the coast of New Jersey. In addition to seeking the costs of the clean up, plaintiff sought treble damages pursuant to the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Plaintiff argued that the policy was ambiguous since the policy pollution exclusion clause was deleted from the policy and an Absolute Pollution Exclusion was added by endorsement. The court granted underwriters motion for summary judgment, finding the Absolute Pollution Exclusion was unambiguous and also finding that the Consumer Fraud Act did not apply since any alleged misrepresentation by the broker could not be imputed to the underwriters.