Arrest of Ships: Gateway to a Successful Claim

When claiming against someone, the main concern is whether the claim can be
secured and paid. It is the same in the field of the marine industry. In the marine industry,
it is important to secure the claimant’s claims. One way to fulfill this is to arrest the
ship, which enables the claimants to successfully reap the benefit of a claim. When an
arrest warrant is issued; the vessel is detained to secure the maritime claim. There is
always the question of jurisdiction and some countries are more favorable to the arrest
than the others. Besides, as the ship is used for commercial usage, the unlawful
detention may cause substantial financial loss to the owner; hence the claimant must be
aware of the drawbacks, as he will be the one responsible for the impairment. Moreover,
if the claimant agrees to the ship’s release (either the shipowner secures the claim in
other ways or agrees upon other terms) or the court decides so, the vessel remains under
arrest. There are many issues raised by the arrest of the ship, and this essay will review
the salient ones.