Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234), article 37

37. (1) The Civil Court, First Hall, may, if it thinks fit (and without prejudice to the exercise of any other power of the cou rt), on a demand by a sworn applicat ion of a person claiming a right in or over a ship make an order pro hibiting for a specified time, which shall in no case be of more than a year, any dealing with a shi p or any share therein, and the court may make the order on any term s and conditions it thinks just, subject to any other provision o f this Act, including, without prejudice to the generality of the abov e, the imposition of an obligation to provide appropriate security, fo r damages, interests and costs, or may refuse to make the order, or may discharge the order when made, with or without costs, and generally may act in the case as the justice of the case requires; and every registrar, without being made a party to the proceedings, shall on being served with, or given notice of, the order obey the same and shall enter a note thereof and the relevant expiry dat e in the register of the ship. (2) The sworn application shall, on pain of nullity, indicate a sum in Maltese or foreign curren cy which shall, for the purpose s of this article, be deemed to be the amount of the claim. (3) The Court shall not issue an order in terms of sub-article (1) and shall discharge any such order when made, if it is sati sfied that the rights of the plaintiff are already otherwise secured. (4) Where the respondent either deposits in court the amount of the claim in the currency indi cated therein or gives securit y, satisfactory to the court, for such claim, the court shall not issue the order or where the court has issued the order, it shall revoke the same with respect to the ship or the share therein, and the provisions of this article shall thereupon be applicable with r espect to the amount so deposited or the security so given as the case may be. (5) The Court shall appoint the writ for hearing within twenty days of its filing; moreover the court may, on the application of the plaintiff make a provisional order prohibiting any such dealing s until the court decides definitely on the merits of the writ or until the court shall have revoked the provisional order. (6) If the order, other than a provisional order, is issued in order to secure a claim which has not yet been judicially verif ied, unless proceedings on the merits of the claim are already pendi ng, whether in a Maltese court or an y other competent court or in arbitration, the plaintiff obtaining such order shall be oblige d to prosecute such claim, in Malta or in any other competent court or in arbitration, within eight working days of the issue of the defi nite order failing which the court issuing the order shall, on the application of the owner, or any other interested party, revoke the same; and where the court has issued a provisional order, the plaintiff shall be obliged to prosecute the claim within thirty days of the issue of the provisional order or eight days of the defi nite order, whichever is the earlier. Cap. 12. (7) Notwithstanding any provision of the Code of Organization M E R C H A N T S H I P P I N G [CAP. 234. 25 and Civil Procedure , an order given as aforesaid, even if provisional, shall be immediately enforceable. (8) Any order issued hereunder may be extended by the Court on the application of the plaintiff for a further period or per iods each of not more than one year; provided that the applicant confirms that the order is still required and the application i s filed at least thirty days prior to the lapse of the then current ter m of the order. Upon such application the court shall thereupon extend s uch order and such extension shall be notified to the defendant and shall be served on the registrar who shall enter the new expiry date in the register of the ship. (9) An order issued in terms of t his article shall not affect: (a) the rights of the holder of any mortgage registered over the ship or recognised in terms of this Act, including the rights specified in article 42, with the exception of the mortgagee’s right to demand the closure of a ship’s register in acco rdance with article 42(1); (b) the ability of the registrar t o delete a ship or to issue any deletion certificate thereof pursuant to any provision of this Act other than on the request of the owner in terms of article 28; (c) the sale of the ship pursuant to an order or with the approval of a competent court within whose jurisdiction the ship was at the time of the sale; (d) the bareboat charter registration of the ship in a foreign registry pursuant to the provisions of Part IIA of this Act. (10) For the purposes of this article: (a) a right in or over a ship or a part thereof shall be a claim based on: (i) a right of ownership; or (ii) secured by a mortgage; or (iii) secured by a regis tered encumbrance; or (iv) secured by a privilege or a lien over the ship arising by operation of Maltese law or the law applicable t o the claim; or (v) any other claim which gives rise to a claim in rem against a vessel under Maltese law; (b) a discharge of or an amendment for the purpose of reducing the amount secured by a mortgage shall not be deemed to constitute a dealing with a ship or share therein; (c) a guarantee by a Maltese bank or by a foreign bank of repute in the currency of th e claim shall qualify as satisfactory security; provided that in the event that such guarantee is deposited in the registry of the courts, the foreign bank issuing the guarantee shall unconditionally submit to the jurisdiction of the 26 CAP. 234.] MERCHANT SHIPPING Maltese courts in so far as its obligations under the guarantee are concerned. Maritime privileges and mortgages Detention of ships as security for debts.  Added by:  XXXVII. 1988.19.