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Indian Court News

16 Sep 2020

Second Arrest Warrant Issued for GP Global's Tanker

An Indian court has issued a second arrest warrant for a marine refueling tanker owned by troubled UAE oil trader GP Global after it failed to make payments to its ship manager, court documents showed.On Sept. 10, the High Court of the western Indian state of Gujrat granted the vessel manager's, Singapore-based Celestial Ship Management Pte Ltd, a request to arrest the GP B3 bunker tanker for unpaid dues, according to the court documents seen by Reuters.On the previous day, the same court granted a request by the National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) to arrest the same GP Global-owned bunker tanker after the oil trader defaulted on a loan payment.Celestial…

14 Sep 2020

Court Orders Seizure of GP Global's Oil Tanker Over Loan Default

An Indian court has ordered the seizure of a tanker belonging to Dubai-based oil trading firm GP Global after a petition from UAE lender National Bank of Fujairah over a loan default, a court document showed.The Gujarat High Court directed the authorities of Pipavav Port on Sept. 9 to seize the company's bunkering tanker, GP B3, and detain it until a further court order or until the outstanding loan amount of just over $2 million is paid, a court document seen by Reuters shows. The next hearing is on Sept. 17.GP Global said last month it had appointed restructuring experts after failing to reach a deal with its lenders over debt restructuring.

04 Mar 2019

DP World Asks Court to Halt Antitrust Probe at Mumbai Port

Dubai's DP World has asked an Indian court to halt an investigation into alleged antitrust violations at the country's largest container port in Mumbai, saying the regulator was seeking excessive information, a court document seen by Reuters showed.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) last year said it suspected antitrust violations by DP World and Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk at the terminals they operate at state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).The CCI's investigation followed a complaint by Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd, which alleged that Maersk and DP World businesses created barriers to hinder the growth of PSA's terminal by colluding on certain charges they levy at JNPT.In December, a Mumbai high court declined a DP World plea to quash the investigation.

11 Jan 2016

India Court Jails 25 from 'Seaman Guard Ohio'

An Indian court on Monday sentenced crew members of a private American ship, including 25 foreigners, to five years in prison for illegal possession of arms in Indian waters in a verdict that could spark diplomatic tension. The crew, which included foreign nationals from Ukraine, Estonia and six British former soldiers, was arrested from the 'Seaman Guard Ohio' in 2013 after they failed to produce papers authorising them to carry weapons in India's territorial waters. Ten Indians were also arrested. The court in India's southern city of Tuticorin, in Tamil Nadu state, found the crew guilty of violating Indian laws by possessing prohibited arms. It also fined each crew member 3,000 rupees ($45).

05 Apr 2014

AdvanFort: 33 Guards Released from Prison in India

33 of the 35 guards who have come to be known as the ‘AdvanFort 35’ were released from prison for good on Saturday, the judge ordered. They were released on bail last week, and today the judge ordered them to be freed. AdvanFort, the company that employs those guards has submitted a quash request to the Indian court system, and expects to have the remaining two guards released, and to have the case dismissed as well. Some of the family members of the guards have been to the prison to visit. Others have been very vocal, even going so far as to present a petition the UK Parliament to intervene. The remaining two guards are the master and crew leader of the ship. India's plan was to charge them for not notifying the country of the weapons they had on board when entering Indian waters.

08 Jan 2014

Security Ship's Crew Bail Cancelled by Indian Court

MV Seaman Guard Ohio: Photo courtesy of Advanfort

India's Principal Sessions Court has cancelled the conditional bail granted by a lower court to 35 crew members of US private security firm AdvanFort's 'Seaman Guard Ohio' arrested on charges of carrying weapons illegally and straying into Indian waters, reports ZNews (India). Principal Sessions Judge Krishnamoorthy was allowing a criminal revision petition by Tamil Nadu Q Branch police, challenging the grant of bail by a magistrate court to the crew of the ship arrested on October 18, 2013 and presently in judicial custody.

27 Dec 2013

'Seaman Guard Ohio' Personnel Granted Bail by Indian Court

'MV Seaman Guard Ohio': Photo courtesy of Owners

A court in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin city has granted bail to all 35 crew members arrested from the US-owned Sierra Leone-flagged private maritime security vessel 'Seaman Guard Ohio'  detained since October 2013, reports the Business Standard (India). Citing the advocate acting for the crew members, Business Standard says that police had been due to file a charge sheet within 60 days of the arrests, but had failed to do so, and hence the court granted bail. The Coast Guard escorted the ship with 35 people - 10 crew and 25 security guards - to Tuticorin port Oct 12, 2013.

31 May 2012

Italian Ship's Military Security Guards Bailed by Indian Court

According to Reuters an Indian court has granted bail to two Italian marines charged with the murder of two Indian fishermen in a case that has caused a major diplomatic rift between Rome and New Delhi. The two marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, were ordered not to leave the port city of Kochi, in the western state of Kerala, while awaiting trial. They will be freed once they each pay bail of 10 million rupees, about $200,000. No date has been set for trial but it is expected to start soon. The sailors were part of a military security team protecting the cargo ship Enrica Lexie from pirate attacks when they opened fire on the fishermen's boat off the coast of Kerala on Feb. 15. Italian officials say the men mistook the fishermen for pirates.

04 May 2012

Italian Ship to Depart after 3-Month India Detention

Agreeing that Italian ship Enrica Lexie is not the “object of crime”, the Supreme Court has allowed the detained vessel to leave Indian waters and continue with its voyage nearly three months after two marines on board allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen, mistaking them for pirates, reports 'The Indian Express'. A Bench of Justices R M Lodha and H L Gokhale passed the order freeing the ship after the vessel’s owners and Italian government assured the court that they would secure the presence of six crew members and four remaining marines as and when required by any Indian court or lawful authority for investigation or trial. The marines, of course, have the right to contest any such summons before a competent court in India, the court clarified.

14 Apr 2003

Indian Court Renders Decision on Carrier's Responsibility

The high court in Kerala, India, has rendered a landmark decision holding that the burden of narrating what happened on board a vessel on the high seas in the lead-up to a fire and consequent loss of cargo is upon the shipowner. The case related to short-delivery due to fire in a cargo of ammunition comprising charges, fuses and projectiles on board the vessel 'Indian Grace' during its voyage from Udevella to Cochin. The division bench comprising Justice K S Radhakrishnan and Justice K Padmanabhan Nair held that it was the bounden duty of the carrier to explain in what manner the fire occurred on board the ship, and that the said onus could not be shifted to the plaintiff (government of India).