RS 811 - Sale of vessel, procedure
If a claimant of the offending vessel does not give bond for the release thereof on or before the return day of the process, or makes application to the court to fix the amount of the bond in one of the methods provided in R.S. 34:807 and thereafter gives the bond within ten days of the date that the court will fix the amount thereof, the plaintiff may make an ex parte application to the court, and the court shall order that the vessel shall be sold at public sale in the manner provided for the sale of personal property under a writ of fieri facias, and the proceeds of said sale shall be retained by the sheriff as security to satisfy any judgment which may be rendered in the pending cause.