Will the real owner please stand up?
In Echo Star ex Gas Infinity [2020] SGHC 200, the action in rem was brought pursuant to the plaintiff’s maritime lien for damage done by another ship following a collision in the Strait of Hormuz. A maritime lien survives a change in ownership of the vessel.
An action in rem is an action against a ship itself. The practice is to describe the defendant in the writ as “Owners of [X] ship” without naming the owners. The owners themselves then enter an appearance in the proceedings, at which point the claim converts from an in rem action to an in personam action.