Orissa high court on Friday ordered the ‘arrest’ of a vessel from Jordan in Paradip port on a plea by a Singapore-based shipping company alleging breach of charter party terms and seeking recovery of $202,000 (around Rs 1.81 crore).
The matter was taken up urgently by the vacation bench of Justice M S Raman after the counsel for Jaldhi Overseas Pte Ltd told the registry that MV ‘The Patron’ was likely to sail out soon. By special notice, the bench commenced hearing at 4:45 pm on Dec 26.
The company invoked Section 5 of the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017, seeking arrest, detention and possible sale of the vessel to secure its maritime claim along with 12% annual interest. The plaintiff alleged that it had chartered the vessel to carry 75,000 metric tonnes of rock phosphate from Jordan to Paradip, but engine failure in Aug resulted in drastic reduction of speed and prolonged delay.
According to the records, the court noted, “Perusal of the papers enclosed to the plaint reveals that the vessel — MV The Patron (IMO 9481439) is at a distance of 5.95 nautical miles off Paradip.”
It further recorded that under the charter party, the vessel was required to maintain a speed of 12.5 knots in ballast and 12 knots when laden, but the speed dropped to 7.98 knots, causing delay in reaching the port.
According to the plaintiff, the voyage from Khor Fakkan to Paradip took about 22 days instead of the stipulated 8 days, leading to disputes over revised hire rates, bunker calculations and off-hire claims. To avoid further losses and ensure discharge of cargo, the plaintiff claimed it paid $1,82,000 under protest.
Observing that the plea fell within the definition of a maritime claim, the court held, “With the aforesaid facts, keeping in view Section 1(2) read with Section 4(1)(h) and Section 3 of the Admiralty Act, this court assumes jurisdiction.”
It added that the plaintiff appeared to have a “genuine grievance”. The court further said, “Unless an order of arrest of defendant no.1 (vessel)… is passed, the cause of action shall stand frustrated.”
Accordingly, it directed ‘arrest’ of the vessel at Paradip port, while clarifying that pendency of the suit would not bar unloading of cargo. The matter has been listed for further hearing in the week commencing Jan 5.
