In recent days, Haikou Maritime Court actively applied new technology to arrest a vessel with the assistance of maritime authorities in the jurisdiction. The action was completed one day before the Qingming Festival following two days of tracking, and the related dispute was properly resolved.
On 2 April 2018, Yangpu Division of Haikou Maritime Court received an application for pre-trial maritime property preservation from Guangxi Fangchenggang Taisheng Shipping Co., Ltd., applying for the arrest of M/V “FESCO X” which was planning to pull into Yangpu Port for loading. When the application was made, the vessel was still far away in the waters of Guangdong Province. The enforcement judge in charge of the case responded quickly and took multiple measures to track the vessel in real time, and succeeded in arresting her within 48 hours.
- Technology was applied to accurately locate the vessel.
The enforcement judge used new technology to constantly track the vessel via multiple websites and mobile apps, and comprehensively analyzed the location of the vessel. In addition, the judge actively contacted and obtained assistance from the Command Centre of Yangpu Maritime Safety Administration in order to be promptly informed of the vessel’s arrival in the port. At 6 o’clock on 4 April 2018, the enforcement judge found that the vessel’s location information had ceased to be updated. It turned out that the vessel had partially turned off the location system on board in an attempt to evade some websites and apps with ship tracking functions. Nevertheless, the enforcement judge still managed to track and locate the vessel accurately with comprehensive application of technology. After comparing data obtained from a number of platforms, it was concluded that the vessel had berthed at No.16 anchorage of Yangpu Port around 8am.
- Plans were made taking into account the circumstances.
After obtaining this information, the enforcement judge quickly contacted and verified with the Command Centre of Yangpu Maritime Safety Administration. Two different action plans were made respectively for arresting the ship in the anchorage and for arresting her at the berth in the port. Around 17 o’clock on 4 April 2018, the Command Centre informed the enforcement judge that the vessel had departed from the anchorage and planned to berth at Yisheng Petrochemical Terminal. Upon receipt of this notice, the staff of the division rushed to the terminal to deploy the arrest measures as planned. Around 19 o’clock, the vessel had no sooner berthed than she was boarded and arrested by the enforcement judge who had been waiting.
- The dispute was resolved through efforts to explain and analyze relevant legal provisions.
The owner of the vessel was taken by surprise by the successful arrest of the vessel by Yangpu Division of Haikou Maritime Court. However, the arrest was only a means to properly resolve the dispute between the litigants. Through the persistent efforts of the enforcement judge, the owner of the vessel and the applicant reconciled and settled the dispute within three days following the arrest of the vessel. Haikou Maritime Court then released the vessel in a timely fashion.