Liability, awards and settlements

19.12, ownership dispute

Philippines: the Coast Guard reported that an ownership dispute between the shipowner and the P&I Club of general cargo Yu Tai-1 was preventing the immediate refloating of the vessel. The Coast Guard said that the P&I Club represented by Manila-based Pandiman Phils. Inc claimed that the vessel had been declared a constructive total loss making the vessel a property of the P&I Club. The Coast Guard said that the P&I Club wanted to refloat the vessel and sell it for scrap. The owner of the vessel, Jui Jong Ship Management, disputed the P&I Club’s claim, however, and asked the Coast Guard not to allow the vessel to be taken. The owner was said to have sent a salvage team to refloat the vessel and tow it to Taiwan. The Yu Tai-1 and its crew, in the meantime, remained stranded off Currimao port in the northern Luzon province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines.