The Munster - Q.B.D. (Adm.Ct.) (Sheen J.) - 12 October 1982

Admiralty practice - Whether demise charter rescinded before issue of writ

The plaintiffs had supplied fuel and diesel oil to the vessel Munster in Denmark but had not been fully paid. On 15 September 1982 the plaintiffs issued a writ in rem against Munster , naming the defendants as the demise charterers of the vessel. She was arrested on 7 October. On 8 October her owners obtained leave to intervene and applied for Munster to be released from arrest on the ground that the demise charterparty had been rescinded before the date on which the writ had been issued, and that accordingly an action in rem could not be brought against Munster . [See section 21(4), Supreme Court Act 1981.]