Liberia court victory strikes blow for global shipping on mortgages

The Liberian Registry, in cooperation with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has succeeded in helping the holder of a Liberian mortgage to overturn a decision of the Brazilian courts which, if left uncontested, could have had serious adverse legal and economic consequences for the international shipping industry. Pursuant to the acquisition of the FPSO (floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel) OSX-3 in March 2012 by a Dutch company and, following re-registration under the Liberian flag, the vessel was mortgaged in favour of Nordic Trustee ASA, a Norwegian entity acting as the security trustee and mortgagee of the vessel.