Claims relating to possession of a ship: Wilmington Trust Company (Trustee) v The Ship "Houston" [2016] FCA 1349

Journal article : Case note

In Wilmington Trust Company (Trustee) v The Ship “Houston” [2016] FCA 1349 the Federal Court of Australia considered the proper construction of s 4(2)(a)(i) of the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth), which provides that claims ‘relating to possession of a ship’ are proprietary maritime claims, and therefore capable of supporting an action in rem against the vessel. Specifically, Siopsis J held that claims for delivery up of a ship and for damages for conversion and/or detinue fell within that definition. This note summarises the facts of the case and his Honour’s reasoning, and critically analyses the link between each of those claims and possession of a vessel. Although a claim for damages for conversion does not at first sight concern possession in the same way as a claim in detinue, his Honour’s conclusion is clearly correct in light of the authorities giving a broad interpretation to the words ‘relating to’.

Authors: Hafeez-Baig, MJ; English, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: University of Western Australia
• Journal: University of Western Australia Law Review
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 128-128
• Publication date: 2017-07-01
• Acceptance date: 2017-06-20
• ISSN: 0042-0328
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR
• Subtype: Case note