by Linda Straker
- Grenada is first Caricom member to sign Judicial Sales of Ships convention
- International Maritime Organisation will be repository for notices and certificates of judicial sale
- Signing onto convention provides opportunity for marine industry development
On 5 September 2023, Grenada became the first member of Caricom to sign onto the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships. It was signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Andall during a ceremony in Beijing, China.
The Convention was signed by 14 other countries: People’s Republic of China, Burkina Faso, Comoros, El Salvador, Honduras, Kiribati, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Switzerland and the Syrian Arab Republic.
In an interview with the Global Times, Minister Andall said that signing onto the convention provides an opportunity for the country. “To learn more about the intricacies of the marine industry, and to see how Grenada can derive some benefits from it as well as contribute to the whole global maritime industry and movement,” Andall told the Chinese online newspaper
The Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships, as the convention is now known, was developed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to address the problem of bona fide new owners and those financing the purchase of vessels who, for instance, find themselves dealing with previous creditors laying claim to the ship as security for a loan.
The Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 7 December 2022. The General Assembly then called on all States wishing to strengthen the international legal framework for shipping and navigation to consider becoming a party to the Convention.
According to a statement on the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) website, the Beijing Convention establishes a harmonised and simplified regime that secures cross-border recognition of judicial sales of ships, ensuring the smooth operation of international trade. “To facilitate the operation of the recognition regime, and to safeguard the rights of parties with an interest in the ship, a notice of judicial sale and a certificate of judicial sale must be issued in the State in which the sale takes place.”
The IMO is supporting the establishment of the Convention by acting as the repository for these notices and certificates of judicial sale. Information on pending and completed judicial sales of ships will be accessible online via a dedicated module on IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) platform.
With the Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships having now been adopted, IMO is encouraging its Member States to ratify the agreement. Article 21 of the Convention provides that it will enter into force 180 days after the date of the deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
