A London High Court trial is under way in a complex dispute between Greek shipowner Angeliki Frangou and her brother, John Frangos.
The battle follows four legal notices filed by Frangos in Greece late last year, containing a raft of accusations against his sister and two companies she controls.
Frangos claims his sister owes his company, First Lines, $1.18m in outstanding ship management fees, according to court documents.
He has also accused Frangou of withholding information about a company they jointly controlled and of installing a director without his consent.
Frangou rejects all the allegations and launched the legal action in London to contest the matter.
Although she is best known heading for the Navios Maritime group of public companies, the case concerns her private businesses.
She filed a claim late last year on behalf of herself and two companies she beneficially owns, Ferand Business Corp and Maritime Enterprises Management (MEM).
It is this claim that is at issue in the London trial, which started on Monday.
The defendants are Maritime Investments Holding (MIH), in which the siblings had equal stakes, and Kolen International, a company owned by Frangos.
The siblings each have 47.5% stakes in MIH and the remaining 5% is owned by Oscaleta, an investment vehicle controlled by distressed debt investor Strategic Value Partners.
MIH acts as a holding company for its ship-owning subsidiaries and operates bulkers, the proceeds from which were shared by the two siblings.
Basis of the claim
The claimants have sought declarations from the court that "each and every allegation" made in Frangos' legal notices "is in every respect wrong and/or unfounded", according to court documents.
First Lines managed five bulkers on behalf of MIH from 2014 until 2017, when management was transferred to Frangou's MEM.
The claimants have also sought a court declaration that First Lines is not owed the $1.18m by MIH nor any other cash.
According to Frangou's claim, MIH owed a total of $960,000 to First Lines at the end of 2017, and Frangou and her brother agreed to discharge the debt by sharing it equally.
Her side claimed the debt was later settled with the profit generated when the 58,100-dwt supramax Christine B (built 2009) was sold by its registered owner Plous Shiptrade, which is owned by Frangou.
The bulker was sold in September 2017 to Coasters Ventures, a subsidiary of Frangou's New York-listed Navios Maritime Partners, for $13.8m.
The supramax was one of the vessels for which management was transferred from MIH to MEM before it was sold on.
Frangos claimed he is entitled to proceeds from the sale, but his sister's lawyers have alleged he and First Lines have already received more than they were owed.
Correction: This story has been amended since publication to reflect that some prior elements of the dispute between Frangou and Frangos are no longer at issue in trial.
