Admiralty suit: Kerala HC declares arrest of tanker ship wrongful

Kochi: The high court has declared the arrest of the vessel MT Ocean Faye wrongful in an admiralty suit filed by Lighthouse Marine Service India Pvt Ltd seeking recovery of amounts towards crew wages and services provided to three other vessels, while directing the refund of Rs 1.03 crore deposited as security by the charterer.A bench of Justice M A Abdul Hakhim passed the order on a petition filed by the vessel’s charterer and ship manager, holding that Lighthouse Marine Service had no right to arrest MT Ocean Faye for dues allegedly owed by its ship manager.Lighthouse Marine Service had previously approached the court and obtained an order on May 31, 2024, directing the arrest of MT Ocean Faye at Cochin Port until security was furnished. The company had claimed Rs 94.44 lakh towards crew services provided to three other vessels — MT Eastern Pearl, MT Fast Kathy and MT Sea Fidelity — all managed by Star Voyage Shipping Services LLC. Pursuant to the court’s directive, the charterer deposited Rs 1.03 crore as security for the vessel’s release.On examining the matter, the court found that the arrest order had been obtained wrongfully. It noted that Star Voyage was only the ship manager and not the owner of MT Ocean Faye. Under Section 5(1)(a) of the Admiralty Act, arrest of a vessel on a maritime claim requires common ownership between the vessel in respect of which the claim arose, and the vessel sought to be arrested.The court also rejected Lighthouse Marine Service’s claim of a maritime lien, noting that the crew members in question had never served on MT Ocean Faye. Different vessels managed by the same ship manager will not become sister vessels, the court observed, clarifying that sister-ship status requires common ownership and cannot be established merely on the basis of common management.The bench accordingly set aside its earlier arrest order, dismissed the admiralty suit for want of jurisdiction and directed the registry to refund the entire fixed deposit of Rs 1.03 crore along with accrued interest to the charterer.