Madras High Court orders arrest of Singapore ship

Kochi: The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of a merchant vessel from Singapore, OEL Freedom for colliding with a fishing boat from Tamil Nadu off the Kochi coast in October.

The fishing boat owner, J. Antony of Thuthur in Kanyakumari district, had approached the high court in Tamil Nadu seeking damages of Rs 40 lakh from the Singapore ship complaining that although a case was registered by the Kochi harbour police on October 12 following the incident, it took no further action in the matter.

Ordering the arrest of the ship if it was still in  Indian territorial waters, the court said  there was a prima facie case against the merchant vessel. It argued that unless the ship was  arrested, it would not be possible for the applicant to realise “the fruits of the decree passed in his favour and that would cause serious prejudice to him.”

It also contended that there was no conflict of jurisdiction and it could consider the plea of the fishing boat as it was registered in Colachel, Kanyakumari district.

Fortunately for the fishing boat owner, the ship is reportedly still berthed at the Kolkata port. The Mercantile Port Authority of Singapore has already launched an investigation into the incident.