A person who has the maritime claim (related to vessel operating or maintenance) has the right to demand the arrest of a vessel through legal proceedings, regardless of the status of its port registration.
The ship arrest: essential facts of legal significance.
In accordance with Art. 388-389 of the Russian Federation Merchant Shipping Code, the vessel may be arrested: detained or restricted in movement on the basis of the judicial act on the following maritime claims:
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crew salary;
- supplying, agency services, insurance of vessel
- damage caused by vessel;
- payment of port and other fees;
- powers of vessel ownership;
- vessel mortgage.
National and international law qualifies maritime claim as money means to be paid in connection with:
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Damage or other harmful consequences caused by the vessel operating;
- General accident, rescue, towing, lifting and disposing of the vessel;
- Usage and transportation by the vessel;
- Supplying (shipchandling) and vessel maintenance;
- Reclamation of a vessel from unlawful possession, declaration of vessel ownership as grounds provided by the purchase and sale agreement;
- Maritime lien (mortgage) of the vessel or other vessel encumbrance;
- Other activities in relation to the vessel.
A vessel may be arrested on the conditional that:
- the maritime claim to the shipowner is secured by a maritime lien on the vessel;
- the maritime claim based on vessel mortgage;
- the maritime claim concerns the ownership of the vessel or its possession;
- the person using the vessel (the owner, the bareboat charterer) is a responsible party as per the maritime claim and uses this vessel at the arrest moment;
- at the arrest moment, the vessel is owned by the person who is a responsible party as per the maritime claim and who was the vessel owner at the time of the claim presentation, or a bareboat charterer, time charterer or voyage charterer of the vessel in respect of which the maritime claim arose.
According to Art. 69, 87 of The Federal Law "On Enforcement Proceedings" in the absence of the debtor’s funds or its insufficiency, the debtor-owned property may be sold at auction.
The vessel arrest is one of the most effective instruments of maritime law in terms of debt collection enforcement, because it actually suspends the vessel operating and entails losses for the shipowner. Usually these losses are more severe than the amount of the maritime claim (payment of vessel abnormal idle time in the port, payment of charterer and cargo owner claims, etc.). All previously listed forces the shipowner to pay the maritime claim in order to lift the arrest of the vessel.
Types of legal assistance in the vessel arrest and detention:
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Counseling |
Collection and formation of evidence |
Ship search |
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Verification of the claim legality and validity, including its amount calculation. |
Collection of information and documents confirming the claim validity and the necessity to stop vessel operating - a ban on leaving the port. Preparation of lawyer's requests, surveys, inspection of business correspondence or site by a notary, recording information, etc. |
Locating and routeing of the vessel, tracking ports of call in order to determine the competent authorities for arrest. Continuous monitoring of vessel traffic. |
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Drafting of a claim for securing a claim |
Representation in the consideration of the arrest by the court |
Representation in the execution of an arrest |
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Description of the case circumstances, the substantive and procedural arguments for vessel arresting, claim formulating. Organization of case materials.
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Participation in the court proceedings, drafting of secondary documents (motions, complaints, statements, counter-plea (objections), obtaining copies of judicial acts. |
Participation in enforcement of vessel arrest judgment, in placing a ban on leaving the port, on registration actions, and on usage and disposal. The vessel implementation. |
The vessel arrest, applicable under a judicial act, must be distinguished from the vessel administrative detention, which lasts for 72 hours by seaport captain decision on the basis of article 81 of the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation. According to this article, the vessel may be detained by seaport captain at the request and on account of a person who has a claim in connection with the rescue or vessel collision, damage of port facilities and navigation conditions equipment and other harm.
Examples of the vessel arrest and detention cases:
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The arrest of the attending vessel "YUSHAR" in the port of Arkhangelsk |
The arrest of the dry-cargo vessel "GLORY MERCY" in the port of Murmansk |
The arrest of the drycargo vessel "LASKA" in the port of Klaipeda |
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Determination of the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast |
Determination of the Leninsky District Court of the city of Krasnodar |
The Principals in vessel arrest and detention were:
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The vessel arrest: professional legal services
- Verification of the debtor financial sufficiency and making a decision on the legal defense advisability;
- Compliance with the pre-trial debt collection procedure: a valid claim which contains execution obligations and additional sanctions, reconciliation of payments, mediation with an independent mediator and / or settlement agreement;
- The sea vessel arrest in accordance with provisional or preliminary provisional measures, including tracing and locating, organization and legal support of executive actions at the site;
- Bring a legal action in the debt collection mane case and interests protection in the course of judicial proceedings.
- Definition of essential crime elements and/or offense in the debtor actions and filing the applications on appropriate grounds. The interest protection of the applicant party (claimholder) in law enforcement authorities, including the vessel register, the prosecutor's office, the investigative committee, the police department, the FAS (Federal Antimonopoly Service), etc;
- Initiation of the insolvency (bankruptcy) case and representation of the claimholder interests in the judicial proceedings and at creditors meetings. Adopting organizational and legal measures to satisfy the debt claim. The debt cancellation;
- Organization of public tendering to settle the claim.
If you or your partners are faced with non-payment of shipowners and / or operators, contact the Law office of St. Petersburg «Inmarine» for legal assistance in debts recovery on maritime claims by arresting ships by phone: +7 (812) 603-48 -63 (Saint Petersburg), 8 (800) 250-00-13 (Russian Federation) or by e-mail: sos@inmarin.ru.