Seafarer predicament and judicial action

In two recent cases involving forced sale of property, the judge has in part based the decision on the situation of seafarers on board. Such positive judicial activism should be noted and relevant factors highlighted, so that others can follow suit.

The factual circumstances of the two cases were quite different – the first involved the sale of the ship itself pendente lite; the second involved the sale of cargo on board. In each case, the seafarers were effectively trapped on board – in the first case, they could not leave without leaving behind any realistic claim to their accumulated wages due, and in the second case the ship was deliberately kept on the high seas so as to avoid the cargo becoming subject to the receiver’s jurisdiction.