Ship Owner Responsible for damage of INS Vindhyagiri setup Offshore companies

New Delhi Nov 10: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has once brought out paradise papers - the documents to shun the light on offshore entities.

The documents reveal that how a shipowner setup who was responsible for the accident of INS Vindhyagiri has set up offshore entities to cover up the losses.

On January 30, 2011, INS Vindhyagiri, entering the Mumbai dockyard collided with MV Nordlake, a Cyprus-flagged container carrier which was moving out of the harbor.INS Vindhyagiri caught fire and capsized.The Indian Navy has arrested the MV Nordlake and sought Rs 1,058.54 crore in damages.

The Shipowner Mrs. Christiane Scola has approached Appleby law firm to set up eight companies in the Isle of Man to park one vessel each to limit liability in case of any adverse verdict. She died in 2014 and handed over shares of the group companies in equal parts to her two sons.

In March 2012, Bombay High Court allowed the release of MV Nordlake on the ground that an admiralty court cannot ask the vessel-owner to deposit a sum higher than the cost of the arrested vessel as surety even if the damages sought are greater.

In April 2012, the Supreme Court refused to stay the High Court order, ruling that the value of the bail required to secure the vessel’s release cannot exceed its value.

In January 2016, the London High court assigned 60 percent responsibility for the collision to MV Nordlake.

Owners response

The company spokesperson said "The Nordlake was released by the Indian authorities after about 12 months of arrest in exchange for security payment in cash to the courts of India (in the amount of the vessel's value of about USD 8 million). The court case about the question of the final responsibility for the damage is still pending in India."

"There is only one court judgment from London in the wider context of this case. This case, however, has no further relevance in relation to the Indian frigate, and the English judgment is not binding in India either." he added.