CONTINENTAL RADIANCE OFFSHORE PVT LTD V MV LEWEK ALTAIR (IMO NO 9413183) AND ANOTHER

High Court of Judicature at Bombay (Admiralty and Vice-Admiralty Jurisdiction), N J Jamadar J, 19 April 2022

Admiralty (arrest) – Maritime claim – Arrest of bareboat chartered vessel – Sister ships – Test for arrest under Admiralty Act 2017 – Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act 2017

This was the plaintiff's application for review of a decision vacating an ex parte order of arrest of the motor vessel Lewek Altair, issued on 14 December 2021. The first respondent was the vessel and the second respondent was its owner. The plaintiff had bareboat chartered two vessels it owned to a third party, VP and had claims against VP under those charters. It asserted that VP was the bareboat charterer of Lewek Altair so that the plaintiff was entitled to proceed in rem against the vessel. The owner of Lewek Altair was an SPV and its ISM manager was VM, a wholly owned subsidiary of VP.