Summary
The Singapore High Court held in The "Long
Bright" [2018] SGHC 216 that where the court has ordered
the sale of an arrested vessel, the arresting party is not entitled
to release and stop the judicial sale of the vessel, as a matter of
right. It must apply to the court for a discharge of the sale order
before releasing the vessel.
This case provides helpful guidance on the Singapore approach in
determining whether or not to discharge a sale order for an
arrested vessel. In a simple case where there is only one claimant
against the vessel, an application for the discharge of the sale
order may likely to be straightforward.
However, such an application may be more challenging where
interests of multiple claimants against the vessel have to be
considered. If all the claimants (other than the arresting party)
unanimously oppose the application and they can show that their
interests would be significantly prejudiced by the discharge of the
sale order, these
