SEIZURE OF BUNKERS TO RECOVER COMMISSION

Three chartering brokers requested the assistance of the Club to recover US$55,400 commission unpaid by an oil trader.  The Club obtained information that the oil trader had another ship on time charter and tracked her to Curacao.  The Club was able to obtain information from a local bunker supplier that bunkers had been ordered by the ship in the name of the oil trading company.  A local lawyer was instructed to arrest the bunkers once they were taken on board the ship, as security for the outstanding commissions.  The oil trading company immediately instructed their bank to remit the funds.

The arrest of bunkers is in many ways a last resort as it is usually difficult to ascertain who owns the bunkers, and if the debtor has no funds to pay, it is necessary to pay for the cost of removing the bunkers.