This was an appeal in cassation against the judgment of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal, 26 November 1986.

On the occasion of the stopover of one of its ships in the port of Oran (Algeria), Delaware Shipping paid a provision to the Compagnie Nationale Algérienne de Navigation (CNAN), the consignee of the vessel. At the end of the operation, and having failing to obtain reimbursement of the balance of the account established by CNAN, Delaware Shipping applied to the President of the Marseille Commercial Court for authorisation to arrest any vessel belonging to CNAN. After the arrest of one of its ships, CNAN applied for the retraction of the order which authorised the vessel's arrest. The Court of Appeal held in favour of CNAN's application, finding that the claim invoked related, not to the execution of a contract entered into by the consignee for the transport of the goods, but to the execution of a mandate contract constituted by the consignment of the vessel. Delaware Shipping appealed.

Held: Cassation.

By ruling thus, while the disputed debt proceeded from disbursements made on behalf of the ship on the occasion of maritime transport, the Court of Appeal violated, by refusal of application, arts 1 and 2 of the Arrest Convention 1952.

For these reasons, the judgment under appeal is struck down and annulled in its entirety, the case and the parties are returned to the position they were in before the aforementioned judgment, and the case is referred to the Montpellier Court of Appeal to be decided correctly.