HAS AUSTRALIA FETUME AN 'AilRfrST FRIENDLY' JURISDICTION?

摘要

Until recently, it was not considered possible to sustain an arrest in Australia under a maritime lien for unpaid bunkers supplied to a ship. This changed in September this year, when the Federal Court, in Reiter Petroleum v The Ship 'Sam Hawk' [2015]FCA 1005, held that a Canadian bunker supplier could arrest the 'Sam Hawk' for such a claim.Section 15 of the Admiralty Act permits an action against a ship to enforce a maritime lien. Maritime liens are rights which attach to the ship at the time of an incident and remain attached even if she is sold to a third party. In effect, this means that a ship can be arrested under a maritime lien even if the new owner was not responsible for (and did not have any knowledge of) the incident.