Singapore legislation
Section 279
Section 279
Release of ship
(1)
Where a ship or other property is arrested in connection with a claim which appears to the court to be founded on a liability to which a limit is set by section 272, or security is given to prevent or obtain release from such arrest, the court may and in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (3) shall order the release of the ship, property or security, if the conditions specified in subsection (2) are satisfied; but where the release is ordered the person on whose application it is ordered shall be deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court to adjudicate on the claim.
(2)
The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are —
that security which in the opinion of the court is satisfactory (referred to in this section as guarantee) has previously been given, whether in Singapore or elsewhere, in respect of the said liability or any other liability incurred on the same occasion and the court is satisfied that, if the claim is established, the amount for which the guarantee was given or such part thereof as corresponds to the claim will be actually available to the claimant; and
that either the guarantee is for an amount not less than the limit set by section 272 or further security is given which, together with the guarantee, is for an amount not less than that limit.
(3)
The circumstances referred to in subsection (1) are that the guarantee was given in a port which in relation to the claim, is the relevant port (or, as the case may be, a relevant port) and that that port is in a Convention country.
(4)
For the purposes of this section —
a guarantee given by the giving of security in more than one country shall be deemed to have been given in the country in which security was last given;
any question whether the amount of any security is (either by itself or together with any other amount) not less than any limit set by section 272, shall be decided as at the time at which the security is given;
where part only of the amount for which a guarantee was given will be available to a claimant that part shall not be taken to correspond to his claim if any other part may be available to a claimant in respect of a liability to which no limit is set as mentioned in subsection (1).
(5)
In this section —
Definition
“Convention” means the International Convention relating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Seagoing Ships signed in Brussels on 10th October 1957;
Definition
“Convention country” means any country in respect of which the Convention is in force (including any country to which the Convention extends by virtue of Article 14 thereof);
Definition
“relevant port” —
in relation to any claim, means the port where the event giving rise to the claim occurred or, if that event did not occur in a port, the first port of call after the event occurred; and
in relation to a claim for loss of life or personal injury or for damage to cargo, includes the port of disembarkation or discharge.
(6)
If the Minister by order declares that any country specified in the order is a Convention country within the meaning of this section, the order shall, while in force, be conclusive evidence that the country is a Convention country.[302