Ong Chee Kwan J:

Introduction

[1] This judgment concerns the claims by the Plaintiff against the 2nd Defendant for damages due to negligence in the navigation and or management and or control of the vessel MT "AYURI" (Official No 335677) which resulted in the 2nd Defendant's vessel colliding with the section link bridge of the Plaintiff's terminal, causing the Plaintiff to suffer a loss of RM1,043,500.00.

[2] The 1st Defendant is no longer a party to the action by the time of the trial as it has been struck out from the proceedings.

[3] The judgment deals with the application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the issue of causation and the compensatory nature of a claim in tort. Additionally, the 2nd Defendant had subpoenaed an engineer to testify on his report of the collision to the vessel's P & I Club as the 2nd Defendant's expert witness but without any witness statement or affidavit filed. This leads to the question whether the engineer can be considered as the expert witness of the 2nd Defendant and whether his testimony is admissible.

Background Facts

The Parties

[4] The Plaintiff operates a cruise terminal at Westport, Port Klang.

[5] The 2nd Defendant is a Labuan Commo