UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Abdelhak Attalah and Ghassan Hidar, Attalah Legal Consultancy
specific mechanisms for registering and enforc - ing these debts. 4.3 Liability in Personam for Owners or Demise Charterers It is not required that the owners or demise charterers be personally liable for a vessel to be arrested. A vessel can indeed be arrested regardless of the personal liability of its own - ers or demise charterers, as long as the claim qualifies as a maritime debt under Article 53 of the ML. Privileged maritime debts attach to the vessel herself, and they remain valid even if the ownership of the vessel changes, meaning that the vessel can be arrested irrespective of who is currently operating her. Under Article 54, an arresting party may arrest the vessel related to the maritime debt, as well as any other ship owned by the debtor, when submitting its arrest application. However, this does not apply if the claim is based on certain maritime debts, such as those related to the ownership of the vessel, a mortgage over the vessel or the sale of the vessel. In those cases, only the vessel directly related to the debt can be arrested. If the vessel is under a demise charter, the vessel related to the debt or any other vessel owned by the demise charterer can be arrested. However, vessels owned by the owner of the chartered vessel, but not by the demise charterer, cannot be arrested for the maritime debt. Under Article 55, in the case of a time charter where the charterer has the right to manage the vessel navigationally, and where the char - terer is solely responsible for the maritime debt, the arresting party can arrest the relevant ves - sel or any other vessel owned by the charterer. The arresting party cannot arrest other vessels
owned by the vessel’s owner (the “chartering owner”). 4.4 Unpaid Bunkers Bunkering claims are classified in Article 53(2) (l) of the ML as follows: “Supplying products or supplying the ship with fuel or tools necessary for use, maintenance, or preservation of the ship, in whichever place the supply is made”. Thus, ship arrest in the UAE is a preservatory remedy to obtain security in favour of an unpaid bunker claim in the merits, whether commenced or to be commenced through court litigation or arbi - tration. Furthermore, supplying fuel is classified in Article 29(5) of the ML as privileged maritime debt, entitling the supplier to seek an arrest of the vessel. A bunker supplier, whether actual or contractual, has the right to arrest a vessel for unpaid bunkers supplied to her. The contractual supplier can arrest the vessel if they can prove the existence of a bunker sup - ply contract with the owner, charterer, Master or agent, along with evidence of a stamped bunker delivery note. In contrast, an actual supplier’s claim for non-payment may be challenged if the owner or charterer can demonstrate that payment was made to the contractual supplier. There have been cases where the actual supplier attempted to arrest the vessel based on a bun - ker delivery confirmation from the Master, but such claims were dismissed when proof of pay - ment to the contractual supplier was presented by the owner. UAE courts generally upheld the bunker sup - plier’s right to arrest the vessel, even if the char - terer, rather than the owner, entered into the bunker supply contract.
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