The court affirmed that unpaid wages for maritime employment constitute a maritime lien, granting summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff under the Admiralty Act.

ORDER :

1. This application has been filed by the Applicant/Plaintiff seeking a summary judgment/decree against the Defendant under Order XIII-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”) directing the Defendant to pay to the Plaintiff the sum of Rs.66,19,434.38 (Rupees Sixty Six Lakhs Nineteen Thousand Four Hundred and Thirty Four and Thirty Eight Paise Only) along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum on the principal amount of Rs.62,69,434.38 from the date of filing of the Suit till payment and / or realization plus costs of Rs.3,50,000/- towards legal expenses incurred by the Applicant /Plaintiff, as per the particulars of claim at Exhibit F to the plaint.

2. The Applicant/Plaintiff is a crew member, who served as a master of the vessel known as M.V.Malaviya 9 which was under the ownership of one GOL Offshore Limited at the time when the Applicant / Original Plaintiff was employed on the said vessel in the rank of Master. Mr.Kamat submits that the owners of the Defendant vessel in the document submitted to the Office of the Official Liquidator have admitted that the Applicant served as a Master on the vessel M. V. Malaviya 9. The Applicant /Plaintiff is a Master mariner holding Indian CDC (Continuous Discharge Certicate-cum-Seafarer’s Identity Document) No. CL 45568. The owners of the vessel, M. V. Malaviya 9, GOL Offshore Limited had entered into a Contract of Employment dated 11^th May 2016 with the Applicant / Original Plaintiff. Under the said Contract of Employment, the Applicant / Original Plaintiff was employed as a Master on board the vessel M. V. Malaviya 9 for a period of three months. The Plaintiff was entitled to receive a sum of Rs.8,30,000/- (Rupees Eight Lakhs Thirty Thousand Only) per month as wages for serving on board the vessel M.V. Malaviya 9 as a Master. It is submitted that the Applicant / Original Plaintiff had received two lumpsum payments from GOL Offshore Limited in the sum of Rs.25,05,361.49 and Rs.5,48,174.33 aggregating to a sum of Rs.30,53,535.82 on 11^th November 2016 and 23^rd November 2016 respectively. Thereafter, the Applicant /Original Plaintiff has not received his entire wages / salary for the months that he was employed on vessel M.V. Malaviya 9. The claim is for payment of wages while serving on the vessel for the period 14^th May 2016 to 14^th April 2017.

3. Mr.Kamat has taken this Court through the pay-slip of the Applicant/Plaintiff as well as the agreement between the ship owner and the Plaintiff dated 11^th May 2016 which indicates that the Plaintiff was the master entitled to the following per month :

4. Mr.Kamat has also taken this Court through the Exhibit C at page 33 which is a copy of the Continuous Discharge Certificate (“CDC”) which indicates the period of engagement of the Plaintiff between 14^th May 2016 t0 14^th April 2017 at the Port of Rio de Janeiro and also that during this period the Plaintiff was the Master of the vessel M.V.Malaviya 9. The said page has been stamped by the Chief Engineer of M.V.Malaviya.

5. Mr.Kamat submits that in the pay-slip at Exhibit A, there is also a Brazil allowance which was precipitated as M.V.Malaviya 9 had been stranded in Brazilian seaport near Rio de Janeiro city since September 2015. That the Consulate General of India, Sao Paulo vide an email dated 22^nd October 2016 addressed inter alia to GOL Offshore Limited stated that they had received a complaint from a Brazilian Company Brasbunker Participacoes SA, regarding the crew stranded onboard the said vessel anchored offshore at the Brazilian seaport near Rio de Janeiro city. The said email inter alia stated that the crew members on board the said vessel M.V. Malaviya 9 had been staying onboard the said vessel in miserable and pathetic conditions without basic ameniti