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ARTICLE · 15 FEBRUARY 2022

Gujarat High Court Refuses Arrest Of Vessel At First Instance

In Navigation Key Inc. vs. MV Manticore, the Gujarat High Court ("Court") in a recent judgement refused to arrest the vessel on finding that there was no concluded/binding fixture/ charter party.

IndiaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
  1. In Navigation Key Inc. vs. MV Manticore, the Gujarat High Court (“Court”) in a recent judgement refused to arrest the vessel on finding that there was no concluded/binding fixture/ charter party.1 The arrest was sought by the plaintiff claiming to be the charterer of the ship.
  1. The judgement is noteworthy not because it breaks new ground or lays down new law, but due to the change in approach adopted by the Ahmedabad High Court to arresting ships. The Gujarat High Court has historically been a claimant friendly jurisdiction in the extreme and this recent ruling is a rare instance where the court refused to order the arrest of a ship. Whether this heralds a permanent shift or change in approach by the court to arresting ships remains to be seen. But what is encouraging is that the court had comprehensively read the papers, understood the case and declined to mechanically grant the arrest of the ship.

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