Hong Kong is the 4th largest ship register in tonnage and the 8th largest container port in the world (UNCTAD, 2020). Equipped with an efficient and mature ship arrest system available through, the action in rem, under the Admiralty jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance, it is also an important forum for claimants to obtain financial security for claims against shipowners through ship arrest. However only certain claims are entitled to an action in rem. Mortgage, collision damage, loss of life and personal injury, crew wages, cargo damage, and provisions and services to the ship claims are amongst the claims entitled to an action in rem. Arresting the ship prohibits the shipowner from using it until security is provided. For each claim only one ship can be arrested thus the claimant must decide when and where it will apply for ship arrest taking into account the efficiency and the procedural requirements for arrest at the various ports of call. Ports offering advantages to claimants take the lion’s share in ship arrests. Preliminary research in the Hong Kong’s Admiralty register has revealed that the number of the admiralty in rem claims has been reducing over time (Figure 1). It is unknown whether this reduction concerns all types of claims entitled to ship arrest and whether it expresses a general decline in Admiralty enforcement or is constrained to Hong Kong. The project will distinguish between the various categories of in rem claims and examine whether they are all in decline, thus answering the first question. The project will further research the reasons for the decline in admiralty proceedings by considering three potential factors. First, by taking into account the changes in the underlying financial, commercial and maritime safety parameters which affect the number of maritime claims and which may affect the number of in rem proceedings. Second, by undertaking a comparative analysis of the arrest system of Hong Kong with that of its regional competitors, namely Singapore and the Guangzhou Maritime Court. Third by examining how the provision of alternative security in the form of the establishment of a limitation of liability fund and also within the context of alternative dispute resolution, in particular arbitration, has affected ship arrest. The aim is to evaluate the current strengths of Hong Kong in balancing the interests of creditors and shipowners and suggest improvements to the legal maritime services including ship arrest.