Petition and bond

The person suffering the injury, loss or damage shall present an articulated verified petition to a court of competent jurisdiction setting out the nature of his demand, and, as nearly as possible, the amount of the injury, loss or damage, and claiming the lien and privilege on the offending vessel; he shall also pray that the vessel be seized and sold to satisfy his claim with legal interest and costs of the suit; and with such petition the plaintiff, the state and all agencies and political subdivisions thereof excepted, shall file a bond with security in the penal sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in favor of the clerk of court for the benefit of whomsoever it may concern, conditioned to pay all costs of the proceeding and all damages which may be suffered by the owner or other person entitled to the possession of the seized vessel in the event it will thereafter be determined that the seizure will have been wrongfully obtained, but if the plaintiff's claim be dismissed on the merits, the seizure shall not be deemed to have been wrongfully obtained.