KMP Coastal Oil Pte Ltd v The Owners of Motor Vessel “Iran Amanat” and 84 other vessels - Full Court of the Federal Ct of Australia (Wilcox, Burchett and Emmett JJ) - 5 June 1997

Admiralty jurisdiction - Action in rem - Whether jurisdiction should be determined before liability - Whether shipowner had the relevant nexus as required by section 19(a) of Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth) to entertain jurisdiction - Meaning of “relevant person”

The plaintiff commenced an action in rem under the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth) against the owners of the vessel Iran Amanat . The claim was for an amount owing for bunker fuel supplied to the owners’ ships, which were sister ships of the vessel arrested. At the time of supply, each of the sister ships was subject to a time charter and the bunkers were supplied at the request of the time charterers. The plaintiff claimed that the time charterers were agents of the shipowners and thus the shipowners were liable to pay for the bunker fuel. Section 19 of the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth) provided: