Sister-Ship Arrest under Egyptian Law

Shipowners often structure fleets through one-ship companies precisely to insulate assets from claims. Egyptian law, following the 1952 Brussels Convention, tempers this by permitting the arrest of a sister ship: a vessel in the same ownership as the ship in respect of which the maritime claim arose.

The decisive condition is common ownership at the time the debt arose — not at the time of arrest. The claimant must put evidence of this before the court, typically through ship registries, classification records and corporate documentation linking both vessels to the same owner.

In practice, the evidentiary work is where sister-ship arrests are won or lost. Registry extracts must be current, translated and consistent; beneficial-ownership arguments require careful preparation. A poorly evidenced application risks dismissal — or exposure for wrongful arrest.

Our office maintains direct access to port and registry records and coordinates with foreign counsel to assemble the ownership chain quickly, so the application is ready before the target vessel reaches an Egyptian port.