10 August 2022
Business Rescue,
Restructuring &
Insolvency
It is well known in the shipping/maritime sector that it is relatively uncomplicated to arrest foreign vessels when in South African territorial waters. Our admiralty jurisdiction laws are extremely plaintiff and creditor friendly. While there are obvious advantages to this, it has also proved to be a problem over the last two decades in the context of various economic global incidents causing havoc in the commercial shipping industry. Largely due to these global incidents, many shipping companies have been placed in administration or curatorship in various jurisdictions around the world. However, foreign administration or curatorship orders, and the protections afforded under them, are not automatically recognised in South Africa. Despite these orders, it is still possible to arrest a vessel owned by a shipping company under or in administration or curatorship in another country. This has, obviously, had a negative impact on the international commercial shipping industry. Hope was found, however, using South Africa’s business rescue provisions.