A brand-new stainless steel chemical tanker owned by Manila-based Seafarers Shipping has been languishing under arrest in India’s Deendayal Port for more than a week.
The 25,300 Eva Fukuoka (built 2024) was arrested on 5 August by Indian Synthetic Rubber, the owner the cargo of styrene monomer that the ship brought to India, claiming that a portion of it had arrived in a contaminated condition.
Indian Synthetic Rubber is seeking damages totalling $351,000 for the contaminated part of the cargo, which it valued at $27.5m in total.
S&P Global’s International Ships Register lists the Philippine-flagged Eva Fukuoka as owned and managed by Seafarers Shipping and operated by Norway’s Hansa Tankers.
Market sources familiar with Seafarers say the well-established company is a partnership with Japanese shipping giant Nisshin Shipping.
Ship arrests over cargo damage claims are usually resolved quickly, mostly through the vessel’s protection and indemnity club providing a guarantee while the matter is resolved through arbitration or in a courtroom.
The P&I provider for the Eva Fukuoka is the UK P&I Club.
Lawyers in India therefore expressed surprise that, given the high-profile names involved, the ship remains under arrest.
Shashank Agrawal of SSA Legal told Tradewinds that while contamination claims are rather common, it does not take this long to release the vessel from arrest and from his experience ships are usually freed within 48 hours of the time the arrest warrant is served.
A Seafarers Shipping executive told TradeWinds that it had a team “on the ground” in India handling the arrest, but was unable to comment further on the arrest as it was a pending legal matter.
