Follow-Up: Ghanaian Court Actions

Following on from last Friday’s post on Blue Ridge petitioning the United States Court for the Southern District of New York for confirmation of the CMS Gas arbitral award against Argentina, there have been some interesting enforcement steps taken in a Ghanaian court in respect to Argentine assets.

Last week, Ghana’s Superior Court of Judicature granted NML Capital Limited, a judgment creditor of Argentina, an injunction and interim preservation order against the Argentine-owned vessel ARA Libertad, which arrived last Monday at the Tema port.  The injunction and preservation order was granted pending hearings on the enforcement in Ghana of judgments against Argentina issued by the aforementioned SDNY and supported by similar judgments in London.

As many readers are likely aware, this case is among hundreds of court actions brought by private creditors around the world seeking to enforce various judgments and awards against Argentina.  Argentina may obtain release of the ship by posting a bond with the High Court in Accra.

Given the narrowing enforcement options with respect to States that shield their assets, is ship arrest becoming the only viable means of enforcing an award against a foreign state that does not honour its obligations?  What are other effective methods to enforce a Sovereign award or judgment debtor to pay up?

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