Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME LAW IN HONG KONG
By C. S. C. Quennell*
The admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice of Hong Kong has been brought into line with that of the High Court in England by the Admiralty Jurisdiction (Hong Kong) Order 1985 which extends the provisions of ss. 21, 22, 23 and 24 of Part II of the Supreme Court Act 1981 to Hong Kong. The Order came into operation on 13 November 1985.
In particular the extension of the provisions of s. 21 of the 1981 Act to Hong Kong means that it is now possible for an action in rem to be brought in the High Court of Hong Kong against a ship on demise charter if the demise charterer of it when the writ is issued is the person who would be liable in personam, and was when the cause of action arose the owner, charterer or in possession or in control of the ship in the connection with which the claim arose.
It may be mentioned that it was open to the Hong Kong Legislature further to extend the local admiralty legislation. In January 1985 the sub-committee of the Supreme Court Rules Committee sought the views of local admiralty practitioners as to the admiralty provisions contained in a proposed amended Supreme Court Ordinance and proposed amended Rules of Supreme Court.
Among the various matters canvassed were:
- (1) the inclusion of a provision which would make it possible to arrest a vessel which was under bareboat charter to the person who would be liable on a claim in personam against a sistership;
- (2) the extension of the admiralty jurisdiction to permit hull and P. & I. underwriters and insurance brokers to arrest in respect of unpaid premiums; and
- (3) the inclusion of a right of container lessors to arrest.
Ultimately, however, there appeared to be no broad consensus in favour of the amendments which could be reported to the Supreme Court Rules Committee. Certain practitioners envisaged problems arising should the legislation administered by the Hong Kong Court, of which the Privy Council is the ultimate appellate tribunal, be amended so as to differ from the established body of opinion in England and Wales and, in particular, the House of Lords’ decision in The Sandrina.1 With regard to the proposed extension of the right of arrest to “demise chartered sisterships” it was pointed out that it was difficult to identify demise charterers and there might follow a spate of actions for wrongful arrest.
A case with international ramifications came before the Companies Court judge, Jones, J., in early 1985. Irish Shipping Limited was incorporated in Ireland on 21 March 1984 and had its registered office and principal place of business in Dublin. The company was engaged in shipping activities including the operation of its own vessels and vessels owned by third parties. The company had never carried on
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