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French Court News

03 Nov 2021

French Court Frees Impounded British Trawler

A French court ruled on Wednesday that a British trawler impounded by French authorities could sail for home, overturning an earlier demand that its captain pay a 150,000 euro ($174,000) bond, a lawyer for the captain told Reuters.The Cornelis Gert Jan was seized last week, with French authorities saying it had been caught fishing for scallops in French territorial waters without a proper license.The lawyer for the Irish captain, Jondy Ward, said earlier the vessel was a pawn in a wider political row between Paris and London over fishing rights after Britain's departure from the European Union. read moreShip tracking website marinetraffic.com showed the vessel was still moored on Wednesday evening in the French port of Le Havre, where it was impounded.

29 Mar 2016

Somali Pirates on trial in Paris

Rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and other armaments lay on the deck of USS Cape St. George (CG 71) after being confiscated during an early-morning engagement with suspected pirates. Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) were fired upon while preparing to board a suspect vessel operating in international waters off the coast of Somalia. One suspect was killed and 12 were taken into custody. Coalition forces conduct maritime security operations to ensure security and safety in international w

Seven Somali men accused of hijacking a French yacht in an assault in which its owner was killed and his wife abducted in the Arabian Sea four years ago appeared before a French court on Tuesday, all facing life sentences. The men have not been charged with homicide, but with hijacking - a crime punishable with life imprisonment - as well as theft, abduction and illegal confinement, according to Martin Pradel, the lawyer of one of the suspected attackers. The trial, set to last two weeks, is the latest in a series of judicial cases in France involving maritime piracy abroad.

28 Dec 2014

IMB Concerned About Compensating Pirates

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has joined other maritime organisations in expressing concern over the decision to compensate convicted Somali pirates. These criminals have been responsible for taking hostage thousands of seafarers, who were subjected to unprovoked violence and sometimes torture. Some seafarers have also been murdered while carrying out their lawful business on the high seas. Earlier this month, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered France to pay thousands of euros to Somali pirates who had attacked French ships in 2008. The pirates were captured by French military on the Somali coast after they hijacked two French yachts in separate attacks in 2008.

13 Feb 2007

Company Knew Tanker was Risk Before Erika Disaster

The four-month trial - the most complex of its kind in French history - may also turn into a trial of the globalized international shipping system. The aging and rusting ship, which split in two off off Britanny, on December 12, 1999, was Japanese-built, Italian-owned and controlled by two Liberian companies. The Erika was crewed by Indians, sailing under a Maltese flag, chartered by a shipping company registered in the Bahamas for a French oil company. The tribunal in Paris was told that the ship had already been identified as a potential risk. It was nonetheless allowed to leave Dunkirk in high seas, carrying a cargo of 20,000 tonnes of toxic heavy fuel oil. The ship foundered three days later.

26 Jul 2001

French Tanker Owner To Fold

French tanker operator Copamar said it would have to fold after a French court backed TotalFinaElf's decision to pull out of a five-year charter of two aged tankers. "We have cash-flow problems," said a source at Copamar. "We will certainly have to close. That's life," he added. He said the 25-year old Guri and the 30 year-old Gatteville had been taken on five-year charters by TotalFina in 1998, but the charters had been terminated 10 months ago. TotalFinaElf's decision to terminate the contract came during a change in chartering strategy last year. It said it would not use ships of over 25 years old in French waters following public outrage after the 24-year old Erika broke apart in the English Channel in December 1999, spilling 8,000 tons of fuel oil and polluting Brittany beaches.