Beneficial ownership in admiralty: charterer control can justify vessel claims where control and use link liability to the ship.
The Supreme Court defined beneficial ownership in admiralty as a functional concept based on control and use rather than registered title, holding that a charterer may, in certain factual circumstances such as a bareboat charter, be treated as beneficial owner for maritime claims. The admissibility of arrest against a vessel depends on a fact-sensitive assessment of the charterer's operational control, the contractual obligations in dispute, and established admiralty criteria linking liability to the ship.