A sugar company that has not been operational in more than 60 years has sued BBC Chartering for at least $97m over a wind-farm deal in Cuba.
The outfit also alleged that the German multipurpose ship operator passed off false documents to do it.
North American Sugar Industries accused BBC's US subsidiary — BBC Chartering USA — of wrongfully using the port that the former Cuban-American Sugar Co developed.
The Puerto Carupano facility, near the eastern end of the island nation, was confiscated after the Communist Party of Cuba took power in 1959.
North American Sugar also accused BBC of securing export licences and bills of lading that obscure the true destination of the cargo.
"BBC USA’s misuse of [North] American Sugar’s confiscated property — certified by the United States to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today — without a speck of compensation violates US law," lawyers wrote in the complaint filed in the US federal court for the Southern District of Texas.
The lawsuit was filed under the Helms-Burton Act, a 1996 law that strengthened the long-running US embargo against Cuba while providing US nationals with the ability to sue when their confiscated property is being "trafficked".
In this case, North American Sugar argued that two shipments of Chinese cargoes aboard the 14,350-dwt BBC Moonstone (built 2013) and the 12,000-dwt BBC Jade (built 2008) in January and February 2019 constitute trafficking.
The sugar company complained that both ships called at its former port facilities on Cuba's northern coastline, roughly 634 km (394 miles) south-east of Havana.
There, the company, which ceased production after its nationalisation, exported sugar cultivated on more than 300,000 acres of land, according to the lawsuit.
Herradura Wind Farm
Now, the site is being used to build the Herradura Wind Farm, which the lawsuit said costs "hundreds of millions of dollars".
The land, port and other property was deemed to be worth $97m in 1969 by the US Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, which adjudicates US nationals' claims against foreign governments.
It is the second-largest judgment against the Cuban government, according to the lawsuit.
North American Sugar said BBC Chartering had received a licence from the Bureau of Industrial Security for the exports, but added that the ships would be calling at a different port nearby.
The lawsuit alleges that both vessels went to Miami before proceeding to Cuba, but had bills of lading indicating they would be discharging cargo there.
Instead, the lawsuit said the ships refuelled before proceeding to Cuba.
BBC Chartering said it would not comment on pending litigation on the advice of counsel.
