NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adedoyin Afun and Michael Abiiba, Bloomfield LP
5.5 Arresting a Vessel Further to the AJPR and the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, an application for the arrest of a vessel is brought via an ex parte application (if the vessel is within Nigerian territorial waters or is expect - ed to arrive there within three days) disclosing a strong prima facie case for the arrest order. This application must be supported by: • an affidavit and an affidavit of urgency deposed to by the applicant, its counsel or its agent; • an undertaking to indemnify the ship against wrongful arrest; and • an undertaking to indemnify the Admiralty Marshal in respect of any expenses incurred in effecting the arrest. Such applications can be filed electronically. The appli - cant is also required to pay, fortnightly, the Admiralty Marshal’s minimum cost of NGN100,000 for maintain - ing the arrested vessel. Original copies of the supporting documents are required. However, where an original document has been lost or is unavailable, a notarised copy of the document will suffice. If the document provided is a public document within the meaning of Section 102 of the Evidence Act (Amendment) Act 2023, a certifi - cate written at the foot of that copy, by the relevant public officer, declaring that it is a certified true copy of the document, is required in certification of that document. Documents prepared in a language other than English language are required to be translated into English language. The FHC does not require a security deposit from the arresting party. However, Order 13, AJPR provides that the court may order security for costs, on the appli - cation of the arrested party, where the sum claimed is more than NGN10 million or its foreign currency equivalent, or where the arresting party has no assets in Nigeria. The security for cost may be in the form of a cash deposit into court, a letter of undertaking (LOU) from a member of the International Group of Protec - tion and Indemnity Clubs (IGP&I), or a guarantee from a Nigerian bank or insurance company.
the owner, in respect of all the shares in the offend - ing ship, or its bareboat charterer; or (ii) the owner, in respect of all the shares, in any other ship (sister-ship). 5.3 Liability in Personam for Owners or Demise Charterers In relation to a proprietary maritime claim/maritime lien, it is not required for the owner or demise char - terer to be liable in personam before a vessel can be arrested. For a general maritime claim, the Relevant Person (ie, the owner/demise charterer) needs to be liable in personam before a vessel or its sister vessel can be arrested. 5.4 Unpaid Bunkers Pursuant to Section 2 (3)(k) of the AJA, a claim for unpaid bunkers amounts to a general maritime claim for goods, materials or services supplied to a ship for its operation and maintenance. As such, the sup - plied vessel may be arrested if the Relevant Person wholly owns all the shares in the supplied vessel, or is the demised charterer of the supplied vessel, at the time the arrest is filed. Also, any other vessel, which is wholly owned by the Relevant Person (in respect of all the shares) at the time the arrest if filed, may be arrested in relation to the claim for unpaid bunkers supplied to another vessel. Where the Relevant Person (who ordered the unpaid bunkers) is the time-charterer, the bunker supplier would be unable to arrest the supplied vessel pursu - ant to the AJA. Notwithstanding, it is possible to arrest a vessel for unpaid bunker claims where (i) the governing law for the bunkers supply contract creates an in rem right against the supplied vessel (in the form of a maritime lien), or (ii) the terms and conditions of the bunkers supply contract create an in rem right against the sup - plied vessel. Neither case law nor any legislation makes any dis - tinction between a contractual supplier or the actual supplier of unpaid bunkers for an in rem right to arrest a vessel.
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