UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Abdelhak Attalah and Ghassan Hidar, Attalah Legal Consultancy
4.5 Arresting a Vessel To arrest a vessel, a written application must be submitted to the competent court, accompanied by relevant documents that substantiate the maritime debt. An advocate licensed to practise in UAE courts must be retained to initiate the proceedings. The arresting party must provide a notarised power of attorney (PoA), which must be issued by the arresting party. If the PoA is executed outside the UAE, it must be attested by the UAE embassy or consulate in the country of execution, and subsequently counter-attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Min - istry of Justice. As Arabic is the official language of the UAE, all court proceedings, including those related to admiralty matters, are conducted in Arabic. All documents submitted to the court must be translated into Arabic by a translator licensed by the Ministry of Justice. While recent amend - ments to civil procedure laws allow certain mat - ters to be conducted in English, it is not clear whether this applies to admiralty cases, so it is advisable to have all documents translated into Arabic. UAE courts have historically followed varying practices regarding security for the arrest of ves - sels. Some courts required an indemnity under - taking from a local entity, while others insisted on a bank guarantee. However, with the introduc - tion of Article 56 of the ML, the arresting party is now required to provide a financial guarantee to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew. Any funds drawn from this guarantee will be consid - ered judicial expenses and prioritised as debt in the event of the vessel’s sale. Although Article 56 does not specify the exact form of the financial guarantee, based on Article 57, it is likely that a letter of guarantee from a P&I club or a rec - ognised financial institution will be acceptable.
4.6 Arresting Bunkers and Freight In the UAE, it is possible to arrest bunkers and freight under the Civil Procedure Code of 2022 (CPC) rather than under the ML. Article 252(1) of the CPC allows a creditor to seek a court order from the judge for expedited matters for the confiscation of the debtor’s property, includ - ing bunkers and freight or debts owing to their debtor in the hands of third parties – even if they are deferred, subject to a condition or disputed – by providing valid grounds, such as the debtor being based outside the UAE or there being a risk of losing the security. The process of arresting bunkers requires strict adherence to procedural formalities and the presentation of sufficient evidence that clearly establishes the debt and proves that the bunkers belong to the debtor. 4.7 Sister-Ship Arrest A sister-ship arrest is possible in the UAE, as permitted under Article 54 of the ML. A claimant may arrest a sister ship owned by the debtor provided that the ship was owned by the debt - or at the time the maritime debt was incurred. However, there are some restrictions. Sister-ship arrests are not allowed in cases where the debt relates to a dispute over the ownership or joint ownership of a vessel or involves issues con - cerning the use or rights to profits arising from a vessel. Additionally, in cases involving mari - time mortgage claims, the arrest is limited to the mortgaged vessel only. Thus, while a sister-ship arrest is generally allowed, certain specific claims, such as those involving ownership disputes or mortgages, would prevent such an arrest.
582 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook