MOZAMBIQUE Law and Practice Contributed by: José Miguel Oliveira, Kenny Laisse and Caio de Mello Ferreira, VdA
5.4 Unpaid Bunkers A bunker supplier may arrest a vessel based on a mar - itime claim, as set out by Article 1 (1)(k) of the Brussels Convention. As set out by Article 3 (4) of the Brussels Convention, a bunker supplier may arrest a vessel in connection with a claim for the price of bunkers sup - plied under a contract with the charterer, rather than with the owner, of that vessel, despite the added dif - ficulty in enforcing the security where the charterer is not the owner. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no case law in Mozambique regarding the interpretation of this Article of the Brussels Conven - tion. 5.5 Arresting a Vessel Powers of Attorney The original power of attorney should be provided to the court and attached to the arrest application, unless it is not available. In the latter case, it is pos - sible to request leave from the tribunal to submit the original power of attorney at a later stage (a scanned (colour) copy of the original power of attorney being submitted with the application whenever available). Where issued abroad, powers of attorney are only accepted and enforceable if previously notarised, legalised, translated into Portuguese and, finally, con - sularised before Mozambique’s embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over the country of their issuance. Documentation Regarding the documentation, and even though courts are entitled to the originals, it is common prac - tice to accept scanned copies of these. In addition, documents should be written in Portuguese; other - wise, the parties must submit the documents in their original language, along with their certified Portuguese translation. Security Despite the judge being free to decide otherwise, usually no security is required. Whenever the court asks the claimant to provide a security deposit, it will generally correspond to the amount of the claim. The security may be deposited in any form considered acceptable by the court, including cash deposits or bank guarantees.
5.6 Arresting Bunkers and Freight Bunkers and freight may be arrested, as determined by the relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Code and Law 10/2022. On similar terms as other provision - al procedures, the claimant is required to demonstrate the likelihood of its right or credit, and the risk of it losing security for its credit if the arrest is not ordered. 5.7 Sister-Ship Arrest Articles 2 and 3 of the Brussels Convention estab - lish that the vessel that originated the maritime claim, as well as any other associated vessel or sister ship owned by the same person(s), may be arrested by the claimant. However, in disputes regarding the title to, or ownership of, the ship, and disputes between co-owners as to the ownership, possession, employ - ment, earnings, mortgage or hypothecation of a spe - cific ship, associated vessels cannot be arrested. Outside the Brussels Convention, sister-ships may only be arrested when the owner is personally liable for the debt. 5.8 Other Ways of Obtaining Attachment Orders Apart from ship arrest, security may only be obtained when the debtor is personally liable for the claim through the attachment of any other property owned by the debtor. 5.9 Releasing an Arrested Vessel Pursuant to Article 5 of the Brussels Convention, the vessel must be released upon sufficient bail or other security being furnished, save for arrests in respect of any of the maritime claims regarding disputes as to the title or ownership of the ship, or in disputes between co-owners of the ship as to the possession, employment or earnings of any vessel. In such cases, the court may permit the person in possession of the vessel to continue trading it, upon such person fur - nishing sufficient bail or other security. Outside the Brussels Convention, the vessel will also be released if security is provided in the form and amount deemed sufficient by the court.
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