Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
WHAT IS A “SHIP” UNDER THE 1952 ARREST CONVENTION?1
Simon Rainey QC*
This paper analyses the current state of English law in relation to the definition of a “ship “for the purposes of the Arrest Convention 1952. The literature on this subject does not always sufficiently distinguish cases which deal with the meaning of the term in different statutory and conventional contexts. The focus of this paper is on the Arrest Convention and the concept of “ship” in that context. A number of general principles are sought to be derived from the considerable body of English case law dealing with other different contexts, with illustrations from other Commonwealth jurisdictions which have grappled with aspects that have not yet come before the English Court. The position of modern forms of floating maritime object in the offshore industry is also considered in the light of these principles.
I. INTRODUCTION
When the framers of the 1952 Brussels Convention on the Arrest of Ships2 deliberated as to the scope and effect of the Convention, there was little debate on the basic subject matter of the arrest regime which they were seeking to regulate and codify in the Convention, that is, what chattel it was that was capable of, or amenable to, arrest under the provisions which they were drawing up. There is only a limited definition in Art. 1 of the Convention, setting out what they understood by certain of the terms which they used, but which does not include a specific definition of the term “ship”. 3
The problem was, perhaps, not one which struck them as one requiring definition.
In 1952, the concept of a ship was in broad terms a straightforward one. While a variety of odd floating structures and receptacles had up to that time been considered in cases under the English Admiralty jurisdiction, from rafts of timber lashed together to gas floats and hopper barges, the modern developments in floating structures, particularly in light of the enormous strides in the design, technology and engineering of exploration, production and storage facilities for the offshore industry, were undreamed of. Although there might therefore have been some nice questions at the margins of the maritime world, usually in connection with smaller-sized objects such as those just mentioned, as to when a ship
* Barrister, Quadrant Chambers, London.
1. This paper is based on one presented by the author at the Belgian Maritime Law Association’s Conference to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Arrest Convention held in Antwerp on 10th May 2012: “The Brussels Arrest Convention 1952, 60 years on: a critical retrospect”.
2. International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Arrest of Sea-going Ships 1952.
3. Cf the discussions in Naples in 1951, commented on post, text to pp 53–54.
WHAT IS A “SHIP” UNDER THE 1952 ARREST CONVENTION?
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