Many lawyers will take offence at this. Many more will welcome it as a breath of fresh air. But between the two extremes, and even allowing for the likely opposition from the US and the UK, there is a strong desire in the international legal world for a more uniform approach to ship arrest. The new arrest convention will affect ship arrests everywhere, and will change the way in which maritime liens are viewed. But don't hold your breath.
Arrests come out of the blue, while new conventions tend to deal only in black and white.
THE draft arrest convention has already gone too far on one point for my liking. It has been decided, quite unilaterally, to omit from the new convention any reference to bottomry. This is a dreadful step forwards. Never mind that masters these days rarely flog their ships or cargoes to generate ready tin for the voyage. It is time to protest the loss of our language.