Indian Law: What is Ship Arrest?

We often get fascinated by the huge vessels that travel on high seas and turbulent weather conditions but we know so little about Indian law relating to ships. At present, our ships form an integral part of our nation’s military and commercial system. The Indian Navy operates with highly sophisticated vessels to defend our water territory and to fight the enemies. Commercial ships carry millions of tons of cargo across the world. Ships are classified based on their propulsion or based on their uses, such as cargo ships, passenger ships, warships and fishing ships.

Indian Law: Reasons that Trigger a Ship Arrest

Merchant ships belonging to different nations travel across the world. Ships are subjected to jurisdiction of the foreign countries, which they enter during their voyage. The country’s authorities can either conduct ship arrest or investigation pertaining to certain serious crimes, such as:

• Collisions
• Salvage
• Loss of Life
• Personal Injury
• Loss of Property
• Violation of customs, regulations, road norms, health norms or safety regulations
• Execution of a decree

Indian Law: An Order of Attachment

Generally, a ship does not rest on a particular port for long. According to Indian law, an aggrieved individual or organization cannot seek relief against a foreign vessel, if it sails away and its owner neither possesses a property or residence in India.

The complainant must first obtain an order of attachment, to safeguard his interest. The attachment is a provisional arrangement, which detains the ship until the matter is settled in the Court. An order of attachment brings the ship under the custody of the authorized officials. Further, any kind of intervention in the custody is considered as contempt of the court. However, the officer possesses only the rights of custody and not one of ownership. In case sufficient bail is put in to compensate the claim of the aggrieved, the court may release a detained/arrested ship.

In case a person falsely implicates a case to procure the arrest of a ship, he shall be liable to compensate the aggrieved. The claimant has to pay damages to the aggrieved; because such a wrongful arrest can cause loss and defamation to him. Also, a separate lawsuit has to be filed against the wrongful arrest. It is also essential to convince the court that the arrest was caused in bad faith or due to gross negligence.

Indian Law: A Case Study on Ship Arrest

In a landmark case, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited vs. M.V. Kapitan Kud, the Supreme Court observed that if  a foreign ship leaves Indian waters, it would be difficult to bring it back under the jurisdiction of Indian law. Even, if the claims are proved valid, they would not be executed under private international laws.

Further, the apex court directed that the ship may be released only on the following conditions:

• The defendant shall deposit an amount of Rs.10 crores.
• The Ukraine Government shall give a duly written undertaking that they would comply with the decree of the suit.
• The undertaking should be for an amount of Rs.18 crore and other expenses approximately put at Rs.25crore.

However, the court did not fix any time limit to comply with the directions. It said that until the directions are followed, the ship shall be detained in Indian waters. 

pic - flickr