This case involved the arrest of the MV Kashmir on a cargo damage claim. The order of arrest was served on the ship on 14 May 1988, but the ship left the jurisdiction. The ship anchored again at Karachi Port under the new name of MV Naran and was ordered to be rearrested. The intervener, Afrah Shipping Co, argued that it had purchased the vessel MV Kashmir on 26 May 1988 from its then owner, Swat Shipping Corp, free of 'litigation, liens, or other claims'. The intervener further argued that the Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit or to issue a writ of arrest because on 14 May 1988 the vessel was not anchored within the territorial waters of Pakistan and was therefore not within the jurisdiction of the Court. It was alleged that the vessel was anchored in international waters 13.5 miles away from Karachi Port.

Held: Order of arrest confirmed. The ship will not be released unless it furnishes security.

According to section 2 of the Territorial Waters Maritime Act 1976 the sovereignty of Pakistan extends to its territorial waters. The limit of the territorial waters is 12 nautical miles beyond the land territory and internal waters of Pakistan measured from the baseline. Article 5 of UNCLOS provides that 'the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large scale charts officially recognized by the Coast State'. Pakistan signed this Convention in 1982.

The Court had jurisdiction to entertain the suit on 14 May 1988 and to issue a writ of arrest. The ship was arrested by the bailiff by serving the writ of arrest within the territorial waters of Pakistan and within the jurisdiction of the Court. The evidence of the bailiff clearly shows that the ship was only 2.5 miles from Manora and within the territorial waters of Pakistan. The contention of the intervener that the ship was anchored more than 12 miles away from Manora and in international waters seems to be unbelievable and absurd on the face of it. Had it been so, it would not have been possible for the passenger launch carrying the bailiff to have reached there within an hour. The Pakistan authorities, such as the Coast Guard, the Immigration Department and Customs would not have allowed the passenger launch or the bailiff of the Court to cross the territorial waters of Pakistan without a passport or other valid documents.

The departure of the ship without the permission of the Court after it was once arrested on 14 May 1988 amounted to an escape from the arrest which, in other words, was an unauthorised removal of property after it was attached. The sale of the ship after such arrest or attachment was also illegal and void.

The English cases make it quite clear that after the writ of arrest is served, any sale after the said writ of arrest would be of no consequence and a suit in rem would not be defeated by such subsequent sale.