In an Admiralty case claiming port dues of $3,166,690 and other charges and costs brought by the Nigeria Ports PLC, instructions were taken from a Protection and Indemnity Club and a ship owner. We successfully persuaded the Court to hold that a vessel under arrest should not pay port charges or dues. That was the first time such a decision was so held by a Court of Law. Hitherto, vessels under arrest were subject to paying port charges or dues. The Nigerian Ports PLC appealed the Decision. The appeal was still pending when the major gains of that decision led to the amendment of the Port Act with a provision that was unmistakable in its pronouncement that a vessel under arrest is liable to pay port charges and dues.
