Bombay High Court
Halul Offshore Services Company vs Abs Anokhi on 23 August, 2021
Bench: B.P. Colabawalla
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
IN ITS COMMERCIAL DIVISION
JUDGE'S ORDER NO. 143 OF 2021
IN
COMM. ADMIRALTY SUIT (L) NO.18200 OF 2021
Halul Offshore Services Company WLL ... Plaintiff
Vs
ABS Anokhi (IMO No.9328247) ... Defendant
Mr.Prashant S. Pratap, Senior Advocate a/w Nishaan Shetty i/b.
Mr. Kaushik S. Krishnaswamy for the Plaintiff.
CORAM : B.P. COLABAWALLA, J.
MONDAY , 23RD AUGUST, 2021
P.C. :
1 The present application has been made for speaking to
minutes of the order dated 18 th August, 2021. Mr. Pratap, the
learned senior advocate appearing on behalf of the plaintiff has
brought to my attention that though the costs of USD 25,000.00
(INR 18,75,000.00) has been claimed in the plaint and quantifed
in the Particulars of Claim, the same has been inadvertently
excluded in the Judge's Order. He, therefore, requested that the
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
order dated 18th August, 2021 be suitably modifed to refect that
security be furnished even for the costs of USD 25,000.00 (INR
18,75,000.00) .
2 Having heard Mr. Pratap on this aspect, it is ordered
that the following shall be added at the end of paragraph 6 of the
order dated 18th August, 2021 :
"The security to be furnished as per the Judge's
Order shall also include the costs of USD
25,000.00 (INR 18,75,000.00) in addition to the
amounts already mentioned in the Judge's Order."
2 No other correction is sought. The correction shall be
carried out in the original Order as well as in the Order uploaded
on the server. It is clarifed that the rest of the order shall remain
unchanged.
3 This order shall be digitally signed by the Private
Secretary/Personal Assistant of this Court. All concerned shall
act on production by fax or e-mail of a digitally signed copy of this
order.
Digitally
signed by
VINA
B.P. COLABAWALLA, J.
VINA ARVIND
KHADPE
ARVIND Date:
KHADPE 2021.08.24
10:29:31
+0530
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
The corrected order dated 18 th August, 2021 reads thus :-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ADMIRALTY AND VICE ADMIRALTY JURISDICTION
IN ITS COMMERCIAL DIVISION
JUDGES ORDER (L) NO. 18201 OF 2021
IN
COMMERCIAL ADMIRALTY SUIT (L) NO.18200 OF 2021
Halul Offshore Services Company WLL ..... Plaintiff
Vs.
ABS Anokhi (IMO No.9328247) ..... Defendant
Mr. Prashant S. Pratap, Senior Advocate a/w Nishaan Shetty,
Advocate i/b Mr. Kaushik S Krishnaswamy, Advocate, for the
Plaintiff.
CORAM:- B. P. COLABAWALLA,J.
DATE :- AUGUST 18, 2021.
P. C.:
Mentioned. Not on board. Circulation granted at 5.15 p.m. in
view of the urgency made out.
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
2 By the present suit the Plaintiff seeks judgment and
decree against the Defendant vessel and the arrest, condemnation
and sale of the Defendant vessel for securing and / or satisfying
Plaintiff's claim in the amount of USD 942,480.00 plus interest till
the date of the suit aggregating to USD 190,796.12 and costs of USD
25,000.00. According to the Plaintiff they had chartered their vessel
Halul 27 to ABS Marine Services Pvt. Ltd. as charterers under a
Bareboat Charterparty dated 4 August 2015. The Plaintiffs have a
claim for unpaid hire charges in the amount of USD 942480.00. The
Charterparty also provides for interest to be paid at the rate of 6%
per annum if there is any delay in payment of hire charges.
According to the Plaintiff their claim for unpaid charter hire charges
is a maritime claim falling under Section 4(1)(h) of the Admiralty
(Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017.
According to the Plaintiff they are entitled to arrest any vessel
owned by the charterer ABS Marine Services Pvt. Ltd. According to
the Plaintiff the Defendant vessel ABS Anokhi is owned by ABS
Marine Services Pvt. Ltd. In the circumstances the Plaintiff seeks an
order of arrest of the vessel ABS Anokhi which is presently lying at
JNPT, Nhava Sheva within the Admiralty Jurisdiction of this Court.
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
3 I have heard the Ld. Senior Counsel appearing on behalf
of the Plaintiff and also considered the averments made in the Plaint
and the documents annexed. On going through the Plaint and the
annexures thereto I fnd that a prima facie case for arrest of the
Defendant vessel in made out. It is apparent that the Plaintiff's claim
is a maritime claim arising under a charterparty which is an
Agreement relating to the hire of the Plaintiff's vessel by the owners
of the Defendant vessel. The claim is for unpaid charter hire charges
and therefore squarely falls within the meaning of maritime claim as
defned under section 4(1)(h) of the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and
Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017.
4 For securing their claim the Plaintiff is entitled to seek
arrest of any vessel within jurisdiction which is owned by the person
who is liable for the claim. The liability for the claim is that of ABS
Marine Services Pvt. Ltd. as charterers of the Plaintiff's vessel and
ABS Marine Services Pvt. Ltd. are the owners of the Defendant
vessel.
5 In these circumstances I fnd that there is no doubt that
there is a cause of action in favour of the Plaintiff and that the vessel
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
being at JNPT, Nhava Sheva is within the Admiralty Jurisdiction of
this Court. Plaintiff has made out an ample prima facie case. The
balance of convenience also lies with the Plaintiff to whom in my
view almost irrevocable prejudice would be caused if the arrest
sought was to be denied. Accordingly I order and direct the arrest of
the Defendant vessel ABS Anokhi (IMO No.9328247) alongwith her
hull, tackle, engines, gears, plant, machinery, articles, things,
apparel, equipment, stores, furniture and fxtures and all other
paraphernalia on board, which vessel is presently lying at JNPT,
Nhava Sheva, until the satisfaction of the Plaintiff's claim.
6 I therefore make an order in terms of the Judges order
which is separately signed. The security to be furnished as per the
Judge's Order shall also include the costs of USD 25,000.00 (INR
18,75,000.00) in addition to the amounts already mentioned in the
Judge's Order.
7 There is no caveat fled against the arrest of the vessel as
is apparent from the caveat book which has been produced and this
position is confrmed by the Court Associate.
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
8 Liberty to communicate the passing of the order to all
concerned authorities including JNPT Port and Customs and also to
the Sheriff of Mumbai.
9 Liberty to the Plaintiff's Advocate to serve a copy of this
order as well as the Judges order on the Port and Customs and other
authorities as well as the agents of the Defendant vessel and the
Sheriff of Mumbai and all are directed to act upon the digitally
signed copy of this order which may be served by email and / or fax.
10 The Undertaking of the Plaintiff's Advocate that the
warrant of arrest will be served upon the Defendant vessel within a
period of four weeks from today is accepted.
11 After service of this order of arrest, if the arrested vessel
is not released by furnishing security or bail amount within 6 weeks
of service, or an application for vacating the order of arrest is not
fled, or the vessel is found abandoned by the person in-charge of the
vessel or owner, or is found unmanned, then, in such an event, on an
application being made by the Plaintiff, the offce of the Sheriff of
Mumbai shall present a Sheriff's report for auctioning the vessel
(2) JO.143.2021.doc
within 14 days from the date of receiving communication from the
Plaintiff's Advocate or from the date of knowledge of abandonment
of vessel.
( B. P. COLABAWALLA, J. )
Digitally
signed by
VINA VINA ARVIND
KHADPE
ARVIND Date:
KHADPE 2021.08.24
10:29:42
+0530
