Physical re-delivery and repossession of vessel by owner is essential for termination of bareboat charterparty; mere contractual termination notice does not end demise charterer status for maritime claims purposes.

JUDGMENT :

K. GOVINDARAJAN THILAKAVADI, J.

1.The Appellant/Defendant has preferred the present appeal against common order dated 06.02.2026 passed in Application No.155 of 2026 and Application No.6081 of 2025 in C.S.(Commercial Div) No.314 of 2025.

2.The Respondent as Plaintiff filed the suit in C.S.(Comm.Div) No.314 of 2025 inter alia seeking an order and decree against the vessel M.V.Nereus Progress (IMO 9170913) and/or her owners and / or parties interest in her;

a)for a sum of INR 8,82,42,636.70 comprising of principal amount of USD 73,550.06 equivalent to Rs.66,10,679.39 and INR 6,90,18,750.20 along with interest of USD 20,069.03 (equivalent to INR 18,03,804.42) and Rs.55,09,402.66 together with legal costs of Rs.53,00,000.00 with further interest on principal amount of Rs.7,55,97,802.00 at the rate of 18% per annum from the date of the suit till date of realization.

b)For arrest and sale of the Vessel M.V. Nereus Progress in as is, where-is condition, together with the engines, tackles, cranes, paraphernalia, fixtures, furniture and fittings, presently in Indian waters at V.O.Chidambaranar Port, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu State, India within the jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court and territorial waters of India.

c)For a direction to adjust the sale proceeds of the Vessel M.V. Nereus Progress against the suit claim;

d)And for costs of this suit.

3.The above suit is instituted by the Respondent/Plaintiff for recovery of the above alleged dues arising under a charterparty entered into with Nereides Marine Services in respect of a vessel, M.V. Bharadwaj, invoking Section 5(1) (b) of the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act 2017 and also moved an application in A.No.6081 of 2025 seeking for arrest of the appellant's vessel lying at V.O. Chidambaranar Port, Tuticorin, on the basis that the Respondent/Plaintiff is the owner of the vessel MV Bharadwaj. The said vessel was given on demise charterer by the Respondent/Plaintiff to Nereides Marine Services, UAE, under a Demise Charterparty dated 24.07.2024. This Charterparty is called a Bareboat Charterparty and is on the BARECON 2019 Standard Form of Contract published by BIMCO (Baltic and International Maritime Council) which is an international Organization which publishes Standard Forms of Charterparties to be used in the trade worldwide. The demise charterer Nereides Marine Services, UAE committed defaults in hire payment and a demand was raised by the Respondent for a sum of USD 73,550.06 (Rs.66,10,679.00) and Rs.5,28,12,794 aggregating to a total amount of Rs.5,94,23,473.00. It is the case of the Respondent/plaintiff that this amount was not paid and consequently they had a claim against the demise charter of their own vessel Nereides Marine Services. The Respondent/plaintiff filed the present suit and sought arrest of the Appellant/Defendant vessel Nereus Progress under Section 5(2) read with Section 5(1)(b) of the Admiralty Act, 2017 on the ground that Nereides Marine was the demise charterer of the vessel. The Respondent/Plaintiff asserted that it had a maritime claim under Section 4(1)(h) of the Admiralty Act for unpaid Charter hire.

4.The claim of the Respondent/Plaintiff was resisted by the Appellant/Defendant stating that the Appellant/Defendant namely H.K.Shipping Ltd., Marshall Islands is the owner of the vessel MV Nereus Progress which was ordered to be arrested by this Court by order dated 04.12.2025. HK Ship