Cepheus Ltd, the new owner of a former Kunlun Holdings VLGC, has become embroiled in a legal dispute arising from a collision that took place in the Middle East in April.
The 78,500-cbm LPG carrier Echo Star (built 2000), which Liberian-registered single-ship entity Cepheus took ownership of in August, was arrested in Singapore last week at the request of Blue Fleet Group.
According to Blue Fleet’s affidavit filed with the High Court of Singapore, the ship — then named Gas Infinity — collided with its 48,200-dwt bulker Royal Arsenal (built 1999) in the Strait of Hormuz on 7 April.
Blue Fleet maintains that despite the good visibility, the Gas Infinity changed its course to port and headed straight for the Royal Arsenal. It claims that the resulting collision was a direct result of wrongful or negligent navigation on the part of the Gas Infinity.
A total loss
The damage incurred by the Royal Arsenal was sufficiently severe to warrant the ship being declared a total loss and sent for scrap.
Blue Fleet’s argument is that even though the Gas Infinity was subsequently sold to Cepheus, the maritime lien it placed on the ship while it was still under Kunlun ownership remains valid because it is placed against the ship that was the actual instrument by which the damage was done.
The company intends to fight its case to secure the costs of unrepaired damages in Singapore.
The Echo Star is no stranger to arrest in Singapore. It spent a brief spell suppressed in the port in late July after mortgagee bank Nord/ LB demanded instant repayment of all outstanding loans due to reports that Kunlun was carrying sanctioned Iranian oil and gas.
The ship was passed across to Cepheus and renamed immediately after its release from arrest in early August.
