The new Belgian Maritime Code (NBMC) recently came into force and includes changes to the law on the arrest of sea-going vessels with regard to material law (arrests can now be made for non-maritime claims) and formal law (the legislation on the arrest of sea-going vessels has moved move from the Judicial Code to the NBMC). This article provides an overview of the essential law concerning ship arrests in Belgium.

A recent high court decision concerned an application with regard to the vessel MT Abbas, which had been arrested under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance. The court examined whether the respondents had jurisdiction over the controlled article which the second respondent had confiscated, whether the applicant was the owner and operator of the vessel in question and whether the respondents had acted in bad faith.