Orissa High Court releases cargo vessel MV Debi following settlement between parties, orders refund of Court fees at Pradip Port
BHUBANESWAR : The Orissa High Court has ordered release of cargo ship ‘MV Debi‘ which was arrested at the Paradip Port and subsequently ordered to be auctioned last year for its failure to pay berth hire and penal berth hire charges amounting to almost eight crore rupees. The Court has also ordered refund of the court fees paid by the plaintiff-Paradip International Cargo Terminal Pvt. Ltd.
MV Debi, carrying steel plate to Denmark was detained at Paradip Port during a stopover over seizure of 22 kilogram of Cocaine worth ₹220 crore, the Orissa high court has ordered its release after the matter was settled between the owner of the ship and Paradip International Cargo Terminal Pvt. Ltd, where the ship docked.
MV Debi was detained at the multi-purpose berth of the port on November 30, 2023 after 22 kg of cocaine was seized from the vessel at Paradip International Cargo Terminal (PICT) at Paradip port. Subsequent to the seizure, the assistant commissioner, Paradeep Customs Division, ordered that no movement authorisations be given to the vessel without prior consultation.
As the movement of the vessel was restricted, it was parked at the space provided by Paradip International Cargo Terminal Pvt. Ltd. However, when the vessel failed to pay the berth hire charges, Paradip International Cargo Terminal filed an admiralty suit demanding a sum of Rs.7.95 crore under Section 4(1)(n) of the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017. Subsequently, the high court ordered for arrest of the cargo vessel in February last year as it failed to submit the dues and its auctioning for its failure to pay berth hire and penal berth hire charges. After the arrest of the vessel, it remained parked at the same space.
Taking on record the affidavit filed by Paradip International Cargo Terminal citing settlement between the ship’s owner Asia Pacific Shipping Co Ltd,, the admiralty judge, justice Murahari Sri Raman said: “The admiralty suit which was filed does not survive as the matter has been settled between the two parties outside the court. The admiralty suit has been allowed to be withdrawn taking into consideration the affidavit filed by Paradip International Cargo Terminal.”
In October last year, the ship’s owner and PICT entered into a settlement outside the high court after which PICT filed an affidavit seeking to withdraw the admiralty suit since the dispute had already been resolved. Considering this submission, the admiralty judge found no reason to drag the litigation any further in absence of survival of the very cause of action and accordingly, recalled the order of arrest passed by the court in February last year. The high court also asked the ship’s owner to refund court fees of ₹23.87 lakh to PICT.
In December last year and January this year, all the 21 Vietnamese crew members detained by Customs department in MV Debi over drug smuggling investigation, were released following orders of the Orissa high court.