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Many shipping related contracts provide that any dispute between the parties should be referred to arbitration. The problem is that whilst arbitrators are empowered by the law in respect of the exercise of their authority, they do not possess the power to order the arrest of a ship to secure any award they may make against the shipowner. Such an order can only be made by a court exercising admiralty jurisdiction over the vessel, should it be in a port of jurisdiction of course. The Superior Court Rules do not deal with the arrest of ships in arbitration disputes and for this reason the courts have used their discretion empowered by sources of common law and arbitration legislation, in the exercise of ship arrest as security for arbitration claims. The purpose of this article is to analyze the current position in the UK and Malaysia in respect of the arrest of ships to secure arbitration claims.