Prejudgment attachments in Bonaire of the Terepaima, initially registered in Panama but now flying the flag of Venezuela. The attachments were effected by CPT Empresas Maritimas SA (CPT) and Salver Global SA (Salver) for their claims against PDV Marina SA (PDV) (PDV is a 100% subsidiary of state-owned Petróleo de Venezuela SA) and its subsidiary company Panavenflot Corp (Panavenflot). Panavenflot claimed that it, rather than PDV, is the owner of the Terepaima and demanded that the prejudgment attachments be lifted.

Panavenvlot pointed to several Panamanian documents to show that it is the 'propietario' of the Terepaima under Panamanian law. CPT and Salver contend that under Venezuelan law Panavenflot is jointly and severally liable for the debts of PDV, and therefore also for the debts owed by PDV to CPT and Salver respectively. Panavenvlot disputes this.

Held: Art 8.2 of the Arrest Convention 1952, to which Bonaire is a Contracting State while Venezuela is not, states that a ship flying the flag of a non-Contracting State may be arrested in the jurisdiction of any Contracting State in respect of any of the maritime claims enumerated in art 1 or for any other claim for which the law of the Contracting State permits arrest. Since the law of Bonaire permits an attachment of a ship for claims which CPT and Salver claim to have, the Bonaire courts have jurisdiction to grant leave for the attachments.

As the Terepaima sails under the Venezuelan flag, the question of who owns the ship must be assessed under Venezuelan law. The evidence raises a strong indication that Panavenflot is the owner of the Terepaima, in accordance with art 38 of the Venezuelan Lei de Comercio de Maritimo. However, an assessment of whether Panavenflot is jointly and severally liable for PDV's debts under Venezuelan law is - partly in view of the complexity of the matter - beyond the scope of these proceedings and will have to be determined later. The decisive factor is that Panavenflot's evidence is not sufficiently plausible that the claims made by CPT and Salver are unsound. The attachments are to be lifted if their claims are shown to be unfounded.