Doctrine of Proximate Clause

Subject to Marine Insurance Act and unless the policy otherwise provides, an insurer is liable for any loss proximately caused by a peril insured against.

Where there is a chain of events leading to a loss, the proximate cause is the most dominant and effective cause, not the nearest cause in time.

For E.g.

A ship is scuttled, the nearest cause in time is the seawater entering the ship but the proximate cause is the act of scuttling.