SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mathiew Christophe Rajoo, Probin Dass and Tan Hui Tsing, DennisMathiew
5.9 Releasing an Arrested Vessel A ship may be released upon the provision of alterna - tive security in several forms, including: • an LOU from a P&I club; • a bank guarantee from a first-class bank in Singa - pore; or • payment into court. 5.10 Procedure for the Judicial Sale of Arrested Ships The practice of the Singapore courts is to consider applications for the judicial sale of ships if security is not provided, so as to avoid depreciating value of a ship under continual arrest. The sale of a vessel pen - dente lite is possible. The arresting party is liable for maintaining the vessel at all times while under arrest. Under Order 33 Rule 22 of the Rules of Court 2021 (previously Order 70 Rule 21 of the Rules of Court 2014), where the court has ordered the ship to be sold in an action in rem against a ship, any party who has obtained, or obtains, judgment against the ship or proceeds of its sale may apply to the court by sum - mons for an order determining the order of priority of the claims against the proceeds of sale of the ship. The order of priorities is as follows: • port dues; • Sheriff’s costs and expenses; • plaintiff’s legal costs of arrest; • maritime liens that arose prior to arrest; • possessory liens; • maritime liens post-arrest; • mortgagee’s claim; and • claims by other claimants having statutory liens over the vessel. Generally, in actions against the proceeds of sale of the ship, costs have the same priority as the claim in respect of which they have been incurred. See the decision of The “Songa Venus” [2021] 2 Lloyd’s Law Rep 365 [2020] SGHC 74, in which the court also held that a similar result would have been obtained under Order 29 Rule 6 of the Rules of Court 2014 – under which the court might order a possessory lien holder to surrender the property in question to its owner,
and a full disclosure of all relevant facts is required in this supporting affidavit because the application is ex parte. In general, the Singapore court does not require origi - nal, notarised or legalised documents. On 18 Janu - ary 2021, Singapore acceded to, and became a con - tracting party to, the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. The Apostille Act 2020 therefore came into operation on 16 September 2021 and, as a result, Singapore and other contracting parties have waived the requirement for legalisation of public documents by replacing legalisation with the use of apostilles. As such, copies will suffice for an application to arrest a vessel, and the authenticity of the document can be dealt with/objected to later. The Sheriff may request that the arresting party place a deposit to cover the Sheriff’s anticipated expenses in maintaining the vessel while under arrest because the arresting party is obliged to maintain the vessel during the period of arrest. 5.6 Arresting Bunkers and Freight See 5.4 Unpaid Bunkers . It is possible to arrest a vessel for a claim for unpaid freight as it relates to carriage of goods in a ship, and this is likely to fall under Section 3 (1)(h) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961. 5.7 Sister-Ship Arrest Vessels under the same registered ownership as the offending vessel may be arrested. However, vessels within the same group or belonging to an affiliate – but not under the same registered ownership as the offending vessel – cannot be arrested. 5.8 Other Ways of Obtaining Attachment Orders A plaintiff may apply for, and obtain, a Mareva injunc - tion or freezing order in respect of the defendant’s assets. A worldwide Mareva injunction or freezing order can also be obtained. However, the procedure for, and the effect of, a Mareva injunction or freezing order in respect of a vessel is not the same as arrest - ing a vessel.
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