In July 2017, a vessel belonging to an Estonian company was seized after it was sued by the owners over claiming an interest.
What happened?
The vessel ‘MV Lady Magda’ was seized in the Irish waters after the company Atlas Baltic sued the owners and all persons claiming an interest. The vessel was registered in and flies under the flag of the Netherlands
Fined for non-payment
In this regard, an Estonian shipping company failed in its High Court claim for breach of contract in relation to a ship which was arrested when it came into Irish jurisdiction over alleged non-payment of €95,000 for services allegedly provided for the vessel.
No claim liability
The Atlas entered into a series of contracts to provide services at the request of a Finnish company called Dennis Maritime (DM) and that the services were provided to the Lady Magda owners and has gone into liquidation.
The owners maintained they had no liability to pay Atlas which said it raised 17 invoices for these services, all addressed to DM.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern dismissed the Atlas claim said, “I was satisfied the claim was based on a breach of contract and the defendant ship owners were never a party to that contract”.
The defendant had no liability for the €95,381 claim and therefore neither the vessel nor the security provided after its arrest can be condemned in respect of that claim.
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Source: Irish Examiner