Semco Salvage Pte Ltd v The “Kaplan Yusuf Kalkavan” and Others - High Court (Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal J) - 9 December 1993

Maritime lien - Whether salvage claimant entitled to bring proceedings in rem against vessel which had been the subject of a statutory sale by Egyptian authorities

The plaintiffs provided salvage services to the first defendant vessel (“the vessel”) under Lloyd’s Standard Form after the vessel had run aground at the southern end of the Red Sea off Port Salif in North Yemen. The owners of the vessel thereafter failed to provide requested security in the sum of US$ 1.25 million pending determination of the salvage award. The owners also failed to meet certain financial obligations incurred at Port Suez, which was where the salvage services had terminated. As a result of the owners’ continuing defaults and abandonment of the vessel, the Port Suez authorities disposed of the vessel to the second defendant purchasers under a statutory sale. The purchasers brought the vessel to Pakistan where they planned to break her up.