i-law

Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly

MARITIME COURT JURISDICTION CONCERNING FUEL SUPPLIES

PG Naschitz and Omer Guy*

The Emmanuel Tomasos

In M/V Bunker Malta Ltd v M/V Emmanuel Tomasos,1 the plaintiff, a company engaged in the supply of fuel, claimed in the Israeli Maritime Court that it supplied fuel to the vessel in Lome Port, Togo, via a local supplier, Stena Oil AB (“Stena”). The plaintiff claimed that it did not receive consideration for the supply of this fuel. Together with filing the claim, the plaintiff applied for a ship arrest and a ship arrest order was given which was later removed after the shipowner filed appropriate guarantees. In the name of the defendant vessel, its owners did not concern themselves with whether fuel was supplied but only with the question of the identity of the supplier entitled to consideration.
The legal question around which the decision turned was then who “supplied” the fuel in respect of whom a maritime lien is applied on the vessel, or for whose benefit there is an in rem claim. One of the main characteristics of the Israeli Maritime Court is found in its jurisdiction to hear in rem claims—namely, the possibility of filing claims against “property” (the vessel), as opposed to claims against legal persons. The in rem claim gives the plaintiffs the possibility of “freezing” the status quo of the vessel via a ship arrest order as well as the means of realising the vessel for payment of debts from the proceeds of sale of the vessel or from monies which were deposit for its release. Thus, in The Mitera


CASE AND COMMENT

459

The rest of this document is only available to i-law.com online subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, click Log In button.

Copyright © 2024 Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited. Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited is registered in England and Wales with company number 13831625 and address 5th Floor, 10 St Bride Street, London, EC4A 4AD, United Kingdom. Lloyd's List Intelligence is a trading name of Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited.

Lloyd's is the registered trademark of the Society Incorporated by the Lloyd's Act 1871 by the name of Lloyd's.