Indian court orders arrest of Maersk ship
The Kerala High Court ordered the arrest of Maersk Ronnby, a Hong Kong flag vessel berthed at the Cochin Port, for the failure of Maersk shipping line to import a consignment ordered by a Kochi-based private company, reported The Hindu.
The order came on a petition filed by A V Thomas and Company, which placed the order for 1,246 cases of liquor from the UK on behalf of Cochin International Airport.
The company said though the consignment was loaded on Maersk Selester, a vessel owned by the shipping line, the petitioner had not yet received the consignment.
The Maersk liner had clarified that the consignment was unloaded at the port of Colombo for transhipment to Kochi.
However, owing to a mistake of the officers of Maersk Line Sri Lanka, the consignment was identified as local and hence was not loaded into the feeder vessel bound for Kochi.
The petitioner alleged that it was not a mistake, but done with a malafide intention for the associates of Maersk Line Sri Lanka to take the liquor cases.
Under this guise, they had taken out the said container out of the Colombo terminal.
Joy Thattil, counsel for the petitioner, contended before the court that the CIAL had recovered the value of the consignments from the petitioner.
In fact, the petitioner had a maritime claim against the shipping agency.
Therefore, he pleaded that the vessel be arrested and kept under safe custody until the shipping company furnished security for the amount of US$1.41 million toward the claim.
The order came on a petition filed by A V Thomas and Company, which placed the order for 1,246 cases of liquor from the UK on behalf of Cochin International Airport.
The company said though the consignment was loaded on Maersk Selester, a vessel owned by the shipping line, the petitioner had not yet received the consignment.
The Maersk liner had clarified that the consignment was unloaded at the port of Colombo for transhipment to Kochi.
However, owing to a mistake of the officers of Maersk Line Sri Lanka, the consignment was identified as local and hence was not loaded into the feeder vessel bound for Kochi.
The petitioner alleged that it was not a mistake, but done with a malafide intention for the associates of Maersk Line Sri Lanka to take the liquor cases.
Under this guise, they had taken out the said container out of the Colombo terminal.
Joy Thattil, counsel for the petitioner, contended before the court that the CIAL had recovered the value of the consignments from the petitioner.
In fact, the petitioner had a maritime claim against the shipping agency.
Therefore, he pleaded that the vessel be arrested and kept under safe custody until the shipping company furnished security for the amount of US$1.41 million toward the claim.