"Stolt Kestral" (Owners of the Vessel) v "Niyazi S" (Owners of the Vessel)

This Admiralty Court judgment by Mr Justice Hamblen concerns procedural applications arising from the 10 October 2010 collision at Stanlow between STOLT KESTREL and NIYAZI S, then owned by Sener Petrol Denizcilik Ticaret AS. After a letter of undertaking and subsequent sale of NIYAZI S to Delmar (renamed FAVOUR), the Claimant issued in rem proceedings in October 2012 and later sought extensions and sister-ship joinder; the Defendant cross-applied to set aside extensions and stay in personam proceedings as time-barred. Applying s.190 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and the Al Tabith two-stage test, the court found no reasonable opportunity to arrest the vessel post-collision, granted a mandatory (alternatively discretionary) extension for in rem proceedings, but set aside permission to serve the in rem claim out of the jurisdiction. It held that s.190(6) does not extend time for in personam claims and refused a discretionary extension due to a culpable filing mistake. For sister-ship joinder, the court granted a mandatory extension under s.190(6).