1MDB subsidiaries 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd and 1MDB Global Investment Ltd are the rightful owners of superyacht Equanimity, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled today.

The judgement-in-default was made by Judicial Commissioner Khadijah Idris in her chambers today after no one came forward to challenge the claim jointly made by the Malaysian government and 1MDB on Aug 6 and after considering their claims on the vessel.

Lawyer Sitpah Selvaratnam, who heads the government-appointed legal team to take ownership of the vessel, told reporters waiting outside the courtroom of the decision after attending today's proceedings.

Meanwhile, lawyer Ong Chee Kuan (below) added that since this is an admiralty court proceeding, the court not only took account of the absence of any challenges to the government and 1MDB’s claims, but also the merits of their arguments.

“In admiralty (court), unlike normal processes where when you get a judgement-in-default, it is just an administrative thing, here the court actually goes through a judicious process of examining the proof, how strong the claim is and then decides that this is a fit case to enter judgement.

“That was the process that we went through yesterday and today. After being satisfied as being a well-founded claim, the court has entered judgement in favour of the 1MDB companies and the government,” Sitpah (below) explained.

She added that the defendants of the case were well aware of today’s proceedings and had been served a notice two-and-half months ago but did not file an appearance at all.

“It is not surprising because the claim and the evidence are overwhelming. They would have found it very difficult to deny the claim that 1MDB and the government own the ship,” she added.

Previously, the court had granted the government and 1MDB's application for an urgent sale of the vessel, which is being conducted by the London-based broker Burgess and is still ongoing.

Today's decision means that 1MDB will be able to collect the proceeds of the sale - minus expenses - once the sale is complete.

According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) last year, the Equanimity was bought by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho using US$250 million that had been siphoned from 1MDB, and he owns the vessel through Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd that he controls.

Malaysian authorities took custody of the vessel on Aug 6, after it was earlier seized by their Indonesia counterparts. It arrived at the Boustead Cruise Centre in Port Klang on the following day and has been moored there since.

The government and 1MDB claimed in court that 1MDB ought to be the rightful owner of the Equanimity since it had been purchased using 1MDB funds, citing allegations in DOJ's civil forfeiture suit that is also meant to seize the vessel.

Equanimity Ltd had claimed that ownership of the vessel's future buyers would be called into question as the matter is still being contested in US courts, but government-appointed lawyer Jeremy M Joseph had denied this, saying that a judicial sale would provide buyers with a clean title to the vessel.

Burgess had likewise indicated that the judicial sale would be free of encumbrances to potential buyers.

"We are advised that in accordance with admiralty law, the judicial sale will provide the buyer with an internationally recognised ownership title free of mortgage, attachment and all encumbrances," it said on its website.

Meanwhile, Ong and Sitpah said there had been local and international buyers who had expressed interest in purchasing the vessel and have requested a viewing.

However, Sitpah said it is still too early to tell how many would actually bid for the vessel since bidding would only open at the end of the month for a one-month period.

“So we will know by early December what the genuine level of interest is,” she said, adding that the bids would be unsealed by the court’s sheriff who would determine who was the highest bidder.