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Ships' chandlers can bust defaulters with Dutch EU-wide arrest warrants

SHIPS' chandlers can now modify the jurisdiction clauses in their standard terms to explicitly include the Rotterdam Court, making it easier to obtain arrest warrants against debtors, says Dutch law firm AKD.

Not just in Holland, but anywhere in the EU if it has a Rotterdam clause because, as Dutch law it becomes enforceable with proper warrants in all member states, said AKD partner Haco van der Houven van Oordt.

"Suppliers face difficult times in the present economic environment. Invoices remain unpaid and creditors, such as bunker suppliers, are often left with no option but to take action against the ships to which they have supplied goods," he said.

"But it is not possible or attractive in every jurisdiction. Counter securities and formal requirements are necessary, meaning that it is not an option to arrest a ship," said Mr Van Oordt.

He pointed out that there are a few arrest paradises, but the Netherlands is one, reported London's Tanker Operator.

In The Netherlands, no counter-securities are required and applications are commonly granted in a matter of hours without the need for the formalities required elsewhere.

"EU Regulation 1215/2012, which provides for even further integration of EU jurisdiction, now makes it possible to also apply to the courts in the Netherlands to issue an order for a ship arrest elsewhere in the EU, an order which is to be recognised and enforced immediately in any other EU member state, without further local court intervention.

"Once the Rotterdam Court has been added as a competent forum, creditors can arrest ships throughout the EU by making use of the efficient and liberal arrest procedures in Rotterdam and thereby avoiding the need to go through the less favourable arrest procedures applicable in some other EU member states," he concluded.