Keep bulk carrier vessel under arrest until further orders: HC to Port Officer, Customs | Legal News

4 min readVadodaraJan 31, 2026 09:10 PM IST

The Gujarat High Court (HC) on Friday directed the Port Officer and the Customs Authorities at Kandla Port to “arrest” and “keep under arrest until further orders” a bulk carrier vessel involved in a maritime dispute of “short delivery” of cargo to a Vadodara-based pharmaceutical company.

The HC also imposed a total cost of Rs 2.89 crore on the defendants “interested” in the vessel in order to ensure that the warrant of arrest of the vessel is not executed.

The HC was hearing an Admiralty Suit filed by Vadodara-based manufacturer of quality API’s, Nandesari Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd, against a bulk carrier, MV Nikator, seeking a maritime claim under the relevant sections of the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017 as well as “an order of arrest” of the vessel for securing its maritime claim arising out of “short delivery” of 407.3 metric tonnes of cargo containing ‘Bright Yellow Crude Sulphate’.

Justice N R Mehta, in an oral order on Friday, ordered the Registrar of the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of the vessel MV Nikator and ordered the defendants to deposit a total cost of Rs 2.89 crore in the court in order to ensure that the warrant of arrest of the vessel is not executed. The oral order of the court said, “I do order that the Registrar of this Court do issue a warrant for the arrest of the Defendant Vessel M.V. Nikator (IMO 9544372) along with her hull, engines, gears, tackles, bunkers, machinery, apparel, plant, furniture, equipment’s and all appurtenances, at present lying at Kandla Port within the Indian territorial waters… be executed at any time of the day or night or on Sundays or holidays…”

Imposing costs towards the short delivery of cargo as well as legal costs, the oral order of the court states, “…in the event of the defendant and/ or those interested in her, depositing in this Court the principal amount of 1,98,93,800 [AED 784,765.275 (407.3*1926.75) @ 1 AED = 25.35 INR] towards the short delivery of the cargo and INR 15,69,222 towards the customs duty, social welfare surcharge and taxes and INR 75,00,000 towards legal costs,  aggregating to INR 2,89,63,022 together with further interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum from the date of suit until payment, as per particulars of Claim the said Warrant of Arrest shall not be executed against the Defendant Vessel…”

Senior Advocate Devang Nanavati, who appeared for the plaintiff submitted that short delivery of the cargo had resulted in the suit and claim. The court order noted the submissions that the pharma company had purchased “Bright Yellow Crude Sulphate in Bulk from Komoditas Trading FZC LLC (the shipper). The cargo was loaded at Sohar Port, Oman, in three sets– for which original bills of lading dated January 21 were raised.

The court order notes, “Bill of Lading No. 1 evidenced carriage of 3,250 metric tons, and Bill of Lading No. 2 evidenced carriage of 3,250 metric tons and Bill of Lading No. 3 evidenced carriage of 3,300 metric tons. It is further submitted that the total cargo loaded on the Defendant Vessel was 9,800 metric tons, and the same was confirmed by the Master of the Defendant Vessel by issuing Bills of Lading.” The plaintiff company also submitted that based on the cargo quantity stated in the Bills of Lading, and confirmed by the Master, the payment was made and formalities completed.

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The court order also notes the submission that on arrival of the vessel, the plaintiff submitted the bills of lading to obtain the delivery of the cargo. However, on weighing the cargo at the shore, it was found that the cargo was “short of 407.3 metric tons”. The plaintiff also sent an email on January 28 to the agents of the vessel, seeking “clarity on the shortage”. The plaintiff submitted to the court that “the Defendants are in flagrant breach of their obligations resulting in loss suffered by the plaintiff and that the Defendant Vessel and her owners, are therefore, liable to make good the losses suffered by the plaintiff.”

The court directed the Registry to send the order to the Port and Customs at Kandla Port via email and issued a notice to the defendants, returnable on February 6.

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Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.

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