Convention on arrest of ships: applicability in India

Through the International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, 1952, and the more recent International Convention of Arrest of Ships, 1999, (the Geneva convention) the United Nations has strived to bring about parity between the opposing interests of maritime claimants and ship owners.

As such, while the right to arrest a ship is the single most valuable tool in enforcing maritime claims and recovering debts against ship owners and operators, it is essential that a wrongful arrest, attachment, or injunction does not interrupt legitimate trading. The following case exemplifies the dichotomy between these two opposing groups.

The specifics

Gujarat High Court, after initially issuing orders for the arrest of a vessel, MV Basil (the available ship), which was lying at anchorage at Alang – a shipyard on the Gujarati coast, dismissed the admiralty suit filed by the claimant M/s Croft Sales and Distribution Limited Division.

Kaushik Chowdhury and Ayasmita Mitra are part of the Hyderabad team of Singhania & Partners. Singhania & Partners is a full-service national law firm with a successful international law practice out of its offices in New Delhi, Noida, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai.