Citgo has filed an appeal to overturn a $120m court victory for Tsakos Shipping & Trading and the US government in the Athos I spill.

The Venezuelan refiner’s Citgo Asphalt Refining Co (Carco) filed the challenge with the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

The appeal follows a decision by US District Judge Joel Slomsky, of the lower federal court in the same city, ordering Citgo to pay $71.5m to Tsakos and insurer UK P&I Club in the long fight over the spill from the Greek shipowner’s 60,900-dwt Athos I (built 1983, scrapped 2008). The figure includes $16m in interest on top of the $55.5m in damages.

$48.6m for Uncle Sam

The judge also awarded $48.6m to the government, which had reimbursed Tsakos for part of the spill cleanup costs.

The three sides have locked in a long courtroom brawl over the casualty, which took place when the tanker was holed by an anchor abandoned in a federal anchorage near the Citgo Asphalt Refining Co (Carco) facility in Paulsboro, New Jersey.

Citgo’s lawyers have yet to submit their arguments to the Third Circuit.

US anchorages

But Chaffe McCall partner Derek Walker told TradeWinds in August that his client was considering an appeal because it believed the company’s legal team clearly showed private terminal owners should not be held responsible for finding obstructions in waters controlled by the US government.

Earlier this week, Tsakos’s lawyers at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads trumpeted the judgment as their third major legal victory in the case.

“Winning the damages was of course important, but what was most gratifying was the court’s vindication of the vessel, the captain and his crew,” said partner John Levy. “The court found that the accident happened despite the reasonable actions of the captain and his crew.”

Vessel interests respond

Michael Hanson, a spokesman for vessel interests, said the grounds for the appeal remain unknown but pointed out that Citgo has posted a bond for the value of the judgment.

“The ship owner and its insurer are therefore fully secured,” he said.  “The judge’s thorough analysis of the issues has instilled confidence in the Athos 1 interests.”