France has ratified the Brussels Convention on the arrest of Sea-going ships of 10 may 1952. Therefore any vessel/yacht calling in a French port (whatsoever the flag) can be arrested under this convention which was incorporated in the French regulations.

According to this convention, any ship can be arrested for any « maritime claims » as mentioned in the article 1 of the convention

A vessel can also be arrested pursuant to the French general rules set by Law n°91-650 of 9 July 1991 and Decree n°92-7555 of 31 July 1992. Nevertheless the conditions are quite more strict as the creditor has to evidence that its claim is « grounded in principle ».

No POA is required to present the petition before the court. No original documents are required also. In addition, if all the documents are provided in short time, the arrest can be autorised the same day by the court.

Once the vessel arrested, the creditor who obtained has to deliver a legal action on the merits before the competent court within one month after the arrest.