The 'Long Bright': Can An Arresting Party Freely Release An Arrested Vessel?

Summary

The Singapore High Court held in The "Long Bright" [2018] SGHC 216 that where the court has ordered the sale of an arrested vessel, the arresting party is not entitled to release and stop the judicial sale of the vessel, as a matter of right. It must apply to the court for a discharge of the sale order before releasing the vessel.

This case provides helpful guidance on the Singapore approach in determining whether or not to discharge a sale order for an arrested vessel. In a simple case where there is only one claimant against the vessel, an application for the discharge of the sale order may likely to be straightforward.

However, such an application may be more challenging where interests of multiple claimants against the vessel have to be considered. If all the claimants (other than the arresting party) unanimously oppose the application and they can show that their interests would be significantly prejudiced by the discharge of the sale order, these factors may well weigh heavily with the court against discharging the sale order, even if the arresting party's claim has been paid.

The facts

The plaintiff shipyard arrested the vessel "Long Bright" in Singapore for its...