By Yasmine EDDAM
17 April 2025
A maritime towing operation, even a routine one, is never without risk. A sudden gust of wind, a wrong manoeuvre, material damage... and an incident can occur, sometimes causing considerable damage to the tug, the towed vessel, third parties or port facilities. The question inevitably arises: who is responsible? Who should bear the financial cost of such damage? The liability regime in maritime towing is complex, combining default legal rules and ubiquitous contractual clauses. Let's decipher this mechanism together to understand who pays the bill in the event of a problem. When does the towing operation begin and end? Even before determining who is liable, you need to know for what period the specific rules of the towing contract apply. Damage occurring just before the start or just after the end of the operation will not fall under the same legal regime....
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