Rare late-night sitting at Kerala HC, ship barred from departing Cochin Port

Kochi: In an unusual event, the Kerala High Court has conducted a late-night sitting to settle a dispute involving a merchant ship.

The high court ordered the ship — MV Ocean Race — not to leave the Cochin Port without paying the amount due to a company which supplied water to it.

Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the order on a plea filed by the water supplying company.

After the emergency sitting which lasted for one hour, the high court directed the Cochin Port Trust to take the steps to stop the ship's departure.

The Kochi-based firm moved the high court seeking a stay on the ship's departure as it had to pay Rs 2.5 crore for water supply. As per the order, the ship cannot leave the port without paying the amount to the company. The petitioner can auction the ship if its management fails to pay the amount within two weeks.

The ship was scheduled to leave Kochi in the wee hours of Tuesday. The ship reached Kochi with materials to the Ambalamugal unit of the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT).

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