Two vessels, 'Ocean Jade' and 'Ocean Morganite', were placed under ‘arrest’ at Paradip Port in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district on Friday, following a maritime dispute. The arrest was carried out in compliance with an order from the Orissa High Court.
According to sources, Alphard Maritime Group, a prominent maritime logistics and marine services company, filed a lawsuit in the High Court seeking the recovery of over Rs 428 crore in dues from the two ships.
Ocean Jade, an offshore supply ship, and Ocean Morganite, an anchor handling vessel, are both registered under the Indian flag. In accordance with the court’s order, a team from the Marine Police, along with a judge from the Kujang court, visited the port to enforce the arrest.
This incident follows a similar case from August last year when an Egyptian ship was ‘arrested’ at Paradip Port after the Orissa High Court issued an order.
The ship had arrived on August 6 but was detained due to an outstanding debt of Rs 3.96 crore owed to a German company. The court issued the arrest order on August 14 after the company filed a case seeking the ship's detention.