The advent of war brought endless difficulties and complications for Irish coal importers and coastal shipping. Quite apart from the risk of attack, there were problems finding satisfactory crews, seemingly infinite amounts of red tape, and Ministry control of all freight rates with figures only a little above the pre-war level though wages and costs were rising. The three Neill steamers mostly continued to import coal to Ulster while many other local colliers were requisitioned for war service. Indirectly, the war caused the sinking of the River Humber on 4 June 1940. On a voyage from Dublin to Preston in ballast, she was in collision off the Skerries, Anglesey, with H.M.S. Folkestone, an Atlantic escort sloop attending a convoy, and four of her crew were lost: J. Cully, J. Gibson, J. McMaster and F. Maginniss. This led Charles Neill Ltd. into a prolonged legal dispute over insurance compensation. The crucial point being whether the ship was lost as a result of marine or war risk. This was a test case which set a precedent for such actions and the ruling eventually was that the Government's War Risks Association was liable, the award being much less than the owners would have received from Lloyd's marine underwriters.
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