SS St Vincent de Paul was French-registered, operated by a British company in Hong Kong, and leased to Jardine Matheson. Its ownership trail is difficult to pin down, extending through an apparently Dutch owner said to live in Canada. Lloyd's Register supplies some of the surviving registration details, and the vessel could make less than ten knots. The ship may also have withheld some information from Japanese authorities about its voyage. The later British response defended flag jurisdiction and proper legal process even though the ship's own conduct may have been questionable.
Chapter · 19:28-21:27
The disputed status of SS St Vincent de Paul
The seizure revolved around a slow merchant vessel with a tangled registration, ownership, and operating history, and an uncertain account of its voyage.