CHAPTER 2. BOATS AND OTHER WATERCRAFT LIENS
IC 32-33-2
Chapter 2. Boats and Other Watercraft Liens
IC 32-33-2-1
Liability for liens
Sec. 1. All boats, vessels, and watercraft of every description
found in the waters of Indiana, including wharf boats and floating
warehouses that are used for storing, receiving, and forwarding
freights and that may be removed from place to place at the pleasure
of the owner or owners of the watercraft, are liable for the following:
(1) A debt contracted within Indiana by the master, owner,
agent, clerk, or consignee of the watercraft:
(A) on account of supplies furnished for use of the master,
owner, agent, clerk, or consignee;
(B) on account of work done or service rendered for the
master, owner, agent, clerk, or consignee by boatmen,
mariners, laborers, or other persons; or
(C) on account of work done or materials furnished in
building, repairing, fitting out, furnishing, or equipping the
boat, vessel, wharf boat, floating warehouse, or watercraft.
(2) All demands or damages arising out of:
(A) a contract of affreightment made either within or outside
Indiana;
(B) a willful or negligent act of the master, owner, or agent
of the master or owner done in connection with the business
of the boat, vessel, wharf boat, floating warehouse, or other
watercraft either within or outside Indiana; or
(C) a contract relative to the transportation of persons or
property entered into by the master, owner, agent, clerk, or
consignee either within or outside Indiana.
(3) An injury to a person or property by the boat, vessel,
wharf-boat, floating warehouse, or other watercraft, or by the
owners, officers, or crew, done in connection with the business
of the boat, vessel, wharf boat, floating warehouse, or other
watercraft either within or without outside Indiana.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-2
Claims arising out of contracts, wrongs, or injuries
Sec. 2. A claim growing out of a cause set forth in section 1 of
this chapter, whether arising out of contracts made or broken within
or outside Indiana, or wrongs or injuries done or committed within
or outside Indiana, is a lien upon the boat, vessel, or other watercraft,
and upon the apparel, tackle, or furniture and appendages, including
barges and lighters, that belong to the owners of the boat, vessel, or
other watercraft and are used with the boat, vessel, or other
watercraft at the time the action is commenced.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-3
Preference of liens
Sec. 3. A lien provided for in section 2 of this chapter takes
preference of any claims against the boat itself or all or any of its
owners, masters, or consignees growing out of any other cause than
those set forth in section 1 of this chapter and, as between
themselves, mariners' and boatmens' wages shall be first preferred.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-4
Enforcement of lien; complaint; requisites; order of attachment
Sec. 4. (a) Any person aggrieved by a cause set forth in section 1
of this chapter may have an action against the boat, vessel, or other
watercraft in the county where the boat, vessel, or other watercraft
may be found, or against the owners of the boat, vessel, or other
watercraft, to enforce a lien provided for in section 2 of this chapter.
(b) If the complaint in the action shows:
(1) the particulars of the demand;
(2) the amount due; and
(3) a demand made upon the owner, master, clerk, or consignee
and refusal of payment, and verified by the affidavit of the
plaintiff or other person in the plaintiff's behalf;
an order of attachment shall be issued by the clerk against the boat,
vessel, or other watercraft and the tackle and furniture of the boat,
vessel, or other watercraft. The order of attachment must be directed,
executed, and returned as an order of attachment in other cases.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-5
Joinder of plaintiffs in complaint
Sec. 5. In all actions contemplated in section 4 of this chapter, all
or any of the persons having demands described in section 4 of this
chapter may join in a complaint against the boat, vessel, or other
watercraft either at the commencement of the action or at any time
afterwards, before judgment, upon filing the requisite complaint and
affidavit.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-6
Proceedings; judgment; execution
Sec. 6. In an action under this chapter, proceedings shall be had
and judgment rendered and enforced by execution or other proper
means.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-7
Undertaking discharging attachment
Sec. 7. (a) If the defendant master, owner, or consignee, before
final judgment, gives a written undertaking payable to the plaintiff,
with surety to be approved by the clerk or sheriff, to the effect that
the defendant will perform the judgment of the court, the attachment
shall be discharged and restitution made of the boat, vessel, or other
watercraft.
(b) A person who executes a written undertaking under subsection
(a) shall, by order of the court, be made a defendant in the action
instead of the boat, vessel, or other watercraft, and the action shall
proceed to final judgment as in ordinary actions in personam. If a
recovery is had by any of the plaintiffs, judgment shall be rendered
against all defendants for the sum recovered.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.
IC 32-33-2-8
Service of summons
Sec. 8. In cases arising under section 1 of this chapter, the
summons may be served upon:
(1) the officer or consignee making the contract;
(2) if the officer or consignee cannot be found, upon the clerk;
(3) if neither the officer, the consignee, nor the clerk can be
found, upon any other officer of the boat, vessel, or watercraft,
or any person having charge of the boat, vessel, or watercraft;
or
(4) if the summons cannot be served under subdivision 1, 2, or
3, by affixing a copy of the summons in some conspicuous
place in the boat, vessel, or watercraft.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.18.