Shipping 2026

SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mathiew Christophe Rajoo, Probin Dass and Tan Hui Tsing, DennisMathiew

5. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 5.1 Ship Arrests There is no international convention that governs the arrests of vessels in Singapore. Singapore is not party to the 1952 Arrest Convention. As such, the Singapore High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961 remains applicable. 5.2 Maritime Liens Maritime liens that are recognised in the Singapore jurisdiction include: • a damage lien arising out of damage done by a ship; • Master and crew’s wages; and • claims for salvage. There is a list of claims that attract a statutory lien set out in the Singapore High Court (Admiralty Jurisdic - tion) Act 1961. As per the High Court (Admiralty Juris - diction) Act 1961, a vessel can be arrested for claims that attract a maritime lien or a statutory lien. Crew injury may attract a statutory lien pursuant to Section 3 (1)(f) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961. Any claim arising out of any agreement relating to the carriage of goods in a ship or to the use or hire of a ship, including contracts for chartering a ship, may attract a statutory lien pursuant to Section 3 (1) (h) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961. 5.3 Liability in Personam for Owners or Demise Charterers It is a requirement that the owners or demise charter - ers be liable in personam. When applying to obtain the warrant of arrest, the arresting party must identify the party who would be liable in personam in the action (Section 4 of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961). 5.4 Unpaid Bunkers A vessel can be arrested for unpaid bunkers under Section 3 (1)(l) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdic - tion) Act 1961 for “any claim in respect of goods or materials supplied to a ship for her operation or main - tenance”.

However, Section 4 (4) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961 must be satisfied in order to obtain a warrant of arrest, namely that: • the bunkers must have been ordered/purchased by the ship-owner or charterer of the vessel when the cause of action arose; and • the purchaser remains the beneficial owner of the ship with respect to all the shares therein or the demise charterer of the vessel at the time the writ is issued. In this regard, a charterer who purchases bunkers does not bind the vessel; to proceed against the ves - sel, the charterer shall have to be owner or demise charterer of the target vessel for arrest. This is because the action in rem shall only proceed if the person who would be liable in an action in personam was, when the cause of action arose, the owner or demise char - terer of that ship. Alternatively, the action in rem may proceed against any ship owned by the charterer. 5.5 Arresting a Vessel Substantively, in order to arrest a vessel, Sections 3 and 4 of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961 must be satisfied. Essentially, the arresting par - ty’s claim must come under a category of claim relat - ing to the ship as set out in Section 3 of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961. The arresting party must also identify the relevant per - son who would be liable in personam and show that this relevant person was, when the cause of action arose, the owner or charterer of, or in possession or in control of, the ship (Section 4 (4)(b) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961). The arrest - ing party must also show that the relevant person is, at the time the writ is issued, the beneficial owner of the ship in respect of all the shares therein or the demise charterer of the ship (Section 4 (4)(c) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961). If the writ is issued against another ship, at the time when the writ is issued, the relevant person must be the beneficial owner of this other ship (Section 4 (4)(d) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961). Procedurally, an affidavit in support of the application for the warrant of arrest must be filed and served,

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