The Civil Court of Maldives on Monday issued a temporary travel ban on Nekton’s ‘Odyssey’ for failure to clear pending fuel payments.
The Hawks Ltd filed a case against the owners of the Odyssey vessel on 9th September in regard to the US$ 186,900 in fuel charges that are still unpaid. The oil company stated that they had provided 105,000 litres of diesel to the Ocean Exploration and Education vessel used by Nekton Maldives in their recent underwater expedition in the Maldives. Hawks added that the company had tried multiple avenues before filing a case against Nekton over the due payments.
The Civil Court issued a temporary ban on Odyssey based on the claimant’s appeal, citing that Hawks would likely suffer irreparable damages if the vessel departs without settling the dues. As such, the Civil Court issued an order asking the relevant authorities to prevent the vessel from departing Maldives. The sentence was carried out in absence by Civil Court Judge Farhad Rasheed.
Moreover, in a statement released on Monday, Nekton stated that they are not responsible for the fuel payments as the vessel is owned by another company. They further added that the payments for the chartered vessel has been cleared from their side.
