A Landmark Federal Supreme Court's Judgment on Ship Arrests Under UAE Law
Type
E-journal
Date
8 Nov 2016
Jurisdiction
United Arab Emirates
Taxonomy
Admiralty, Shipping & Navigation
Copyright
LexisNexis
Relevant company
Al Tamimi & Company
Analysis
This article is a review of a landmark Federal Supreme Court judgment (Appeal number 304/2016 (Commercial)) regarding ship arrests by virtue of the UAE Law. This judgment overruled the judgments of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal, as the claim was filed in a procedurally unlawful way
Nature of the Claim
On 18 June 2015, a ship agency ('Claimant‘) obtained an arrest order over a ship ('Ship‘) which was at Khorfakkan Port at the time. The Claimant based the arrest order application on an agency agreement. On 1 July 2015, the Claimant brought a claim before the Khorfakkan Court of First Instance against the Ship ('Defendant‘) seeking the sum of USD5,323,869 (or its equivalent, being AED19,565,219) and legal interest at the rate of 9% as of the date the claim was made until full payment. Interestingly, the Clamant did not include the Ship's owners in the claim.