This was an appeal by a Maltese company Либиан Навигейтър Л (Libyan Navigator L) against the decision of the Burgas Court of Appeal to grant security for the claim of a Bulgarian company Б Л Д (B L D) against Libyan Navigator L in the amount of USD 9,230,362 by the seizure of the self-propelled tanker named Б (B) in the port of Burgas. The Burgas Court of Appeal fixed a period of 30 days for B L D to initiate proceedings under art 417(6) of the CPC against Libyan Navigator L regarding the claim, failing which the security would be cancelled. 

Libyan Navigator L sought annulment of the two Burgas Court of Appeal decisions and the cancellation of the vessel's seizure. Libyan Navigator L argued that B L D  was constituted as a société civile under art 357ff of the Law on Obligations and Contracts. Such companies, although subject to tax, labour and social security rules, do not have legal personality. Therefore B L D could not actually participate in the litigation without adding each of the associates as parties to the litigation. It was also contended that the judgments below were based on a false ship mortgage and certificate.

Held: The two contested orders of the Burgas Court of Appeal are inadmissible and are annulled. The self-propelled tanker Б (B) is unconditionally released from conservatory seizure.

In this case the use in the claimant's company name of two abbreviations (Л and Д /L and D) not only misleadingly suggests the existence of a legal person, but also the use of abbreviation of the denomination in a foreign language only deepens the lack of clarity concerning its form - is it a limited company (O), a public limited company (AД / AD), or a limited partnership (КД / KD)? The Bourgas Court of Appeal should have taken into account the provisions of arts 1.4 and 1.3 of the International Convention for the Arrest of Ships 1999 (Arrest Convention 1999), relevant for the purposes of admitting an application for interim measures in maritime matters, under which 'claimant' is any person asserting a maritime claim, and 'person' means any individual or partnership or any public or private body, whether corporate or not, including a State or any of its constituent subdivisions. It is, however, inadmissible that the associates of a société civile be considered as a subdivision of the State, and as it is well-known that their association is an association in fact only.

The two contested orders of the Burgas Court of Appeal must be annulled as inadmissible under the procedural rules, and the protective seizure, ordered on their basis, of the self-propelled tanker Б (B) flying the Libyan flag shall be considered unlawful. Under art 2.4 of the Arrest Convention 1999, the procedure for the release of precautionary attachment is governed by the law of the State in which the seizure was effected or applied for.