Transportnaya Korporatsiya JSC (the claimant) applied for the arrest of the Sapodilla. The claimant and RSV Shipping LLC (the defendant) entered into a carriage of goods agreement from the port of St Petersburg, Russia, to Tuticorin, India. The carriage was carried out on the Sapodilla. The vessel's registered owner was Ocean Searum Three Ltd, and the bareboat charterer was Sai Wan Shipping Ltd. In St Petersburg, it was found that the cargo was damaged. Ship arrest was granted on 15 January 2024. The defendant applied to set the arrest aside. The claimant did not oppose the application.

Held: The arrest is set aside.

Under art 388(1) of the Merchant Shipping Code of Russia (the MSC RF), arrest is any detention of a ship or restriction of its movement when it is located in Russia on the basis of the judicial act of a court, commercial court, or authorised arbitration institution, excluding the seizure of a ship in the execution of a judgment. The ship may be arrested only for a maritime claim (art 388(2) of the MSC RF).

The defendant referred to art 1.4 of the Arrest Convention 1952, which states that the claimant means 'a person who alleges that a maritime claim exists in his favour'.

The Court found that the shipper of the disputed cargo was Atomstroyexport JSC, and the consignee and the cargo owner was Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd. Therefore, the claimant had no title to goods and, therefore, no maritime claim arising out of damage to the cargo. Based on this, the Court concluded that the ship could not be arrested.

The defendant argued that the security measure in the form of the arrest of the ship was disproportionate to the claim value. It stated that the vessel value, according to the insurance certificate, was EUR 23,000,000, but the claim amounted only to USD 850,000. Also, the defendant mentioned that the ship was detained in the port of St Petersburg with the cargo onboard, which caused additional damages unreasonable compared to the claim value. The Court mentioned these arguments but did not comment on them.