Cosco Busan "arrested".

On Tuesday, November 20, the U.S. District Court issued an order "arresting" the Cosco Busan, the vessel that spilled approximately 58,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay on November 7, to keep it from leaving the area. This order was in response to a class action lawsuit filed by Audet & Partners, LLP, a law firm who represents the "fisherman, boat operators, and other victims of the oil spill." The most current information about the case, entitled Chelsea, LLC, on behalf of the Class v. Regal Stone, Ltd., et al., Civil Action No. 07-5800 (Northern District of California), can be found at www.audetlaw.com.

more:

http://www.newsletterscience.com/marex/readmore.cgi?issue_id=271&article_id=2745&l=1&s=16239

Does corporate person-hood extend to the corporation's possessions? Is it normal practice to arrest inanimate objects? How is a jury assembled in such a case - ie, would a sail boat or a tug be considered peers of a tanker? Just curious as to why they didn't use the words seized or impounded.