Précis: The Federal Court held that an in rem action was available whenever damage was done by those in charge of a ship with the ship as the instrument.
Full SummaryArtificial Reef Society of Nova Scotia v. Canada, 2010 FC 865 (CanLII)
The plaintiff in this matter arrested a decommissioned naval vessel. Although it is not obvious from the reported reasons, the plaintiff appears to have alleged an agreement with the Crown for the transfer of the vessel to it but the Crown intended to have the vessel scrapped. In any event, the vessel was arrested at the instance of the plaintiff …
Full SummaryMorecorp Holdings Ltd. v. Island Tug & Barge Ltd., 2009 BCSC 1614
This was an application to set aside the arrest of the “ITB Pioneer”. The case concerned various allegations of breaches of a share purchase agreement between the parties. The plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that it was a term of the share purchase agreement that the parties would enter into a further agreement whereby the plaintiff’s tugs would be used to …
Full SummaryForesight Shipping Co. Ltd. v. Union of India et al., 2004 FC 1501
This was an appeal from an Order of a Prothonotary in which the Prothonotary had set aside the seizure of the ship. The facts were that the Plaintiff had obtained an arbitral award against the Union of India and the Food Corporation of India and registered the judgment in the Federal Court. The award/judgment was not paid and in an …
Full SummaryRoxford Enterprises SA v. Cuba et al., 2003 FCT 763
The issue in this case was whether the assets of Cubana de Aviacion S.A. (“Cubana”) were available for seizure to satisfy a judgment obtained by default against the government of Cuba. Cubana was not a party to the original action but, according to the Plaintiff, the government of Cuba was the true owner of Cubana’s shares and assets such that …
Full SummaryCampbell's Meat Market Ltd. v. The "Merak", 2000 CanLII 15892
The issue in this case was whether an arrest of a cargo of shrimp should be set aside on the grounds that the cargo had been sold prior to the service of the Statement of Claim and Warrant of Arrest. The Court reviewed the evidence and found as a fact that the cargo had been sold prior to the arrest …
Full SummaryJoy Shipping Inc. v. Empressa Cubana Des Fletes of Cuba et al., [2000] F.C.J. No. 945
This was an application to set aside a Writ of Seizure and Sale directing the Sheriff to seize the ship "Rio Cuyaguateje". The Writ was issued to enforce a judgment of the Superior Court of England and Wales which had been registered previously with the Federal Court. The Applicant brought this application to set aside the Writ and seizure on …
Full SummaryAbitibi-Price Sales v. C.V. The "Bontegracht", 1998 CanLII 8562
This was an appeal from a decision of a Prothonotary. The Statement of Claim had been issued on July 11, 1997. On August 14, 1998, after the Statement of Claim had expired, the Plaintiff obtained a Warrant of Arrest and threatened to arrest the "Bontegracht" at Baie Comeau, Quebec. The Defendants provided a letter of undertaking to prevent the arrest. …
Full Summary