Marina de Badalona SA sought the arrest of the Geminis for a debt of EUR 30,162.72 for unpaid maintenance fees, electricity supplies, port services fees and mooring fees.

Held: The preventive arrest of the ship is ordered. This measure will be conditional on the plaintiff filing the corresponding lawsuit on the merits of the matter within a period of 20 days from the effective immobilisation of the vessel.

The requested measure is subject to the Arrest Convention 1999, which was ratified by Spain on 31 May 2002. Likewise, the Maritime Navigation Law 2014 (the LNM) and the provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure (LEC) on precautionary measures (arts 721 ff) must be applied, by virtue of art 6 of the Convention.

Art 472 of the LNM establishes that in 'order to decree the arrest of a ship for a maritime claim as defined in Article 1 of the International Convention on Arrest of Ships, it shall suffice to allege the right or credits claimed, the cause that gives rise to these, and that the ship may be arrested', adding in art 475 that all 'ships with regard to which a maritime claim is alleged may be arrested pursuant to the terms and within the scope of the International Convention on Arrest of Ships.'

There must be a maritime claim of the type provided for in art 1.1 of the Convention. The plaintiff must state in its application what claim it has against the shipowner or charterer, and the reason for the claim deserving that qualification. In the present case, the maritime claim is that derived from the repair and maintenance works carried out by the plaintiff. From the documents provided with the claim, it is proven, at least in an indicative manner, that there was a contractual relationship between the parties which gave rise to the existence of the alleged maritime claim. Furthermore, being one of the claims listed in art 1.1 of the Convention, its sole allegation is enough to obtain the ship's arrest.