A Greek bulker will be auctioned off live online next month in the US to settle a claim brought by a German cargo owner.
The US Marshals Service has set a date of 15 May for the sale of the 23,600-dwt Evolution (built 1995), exclusive broker CW Kellock said.
The Liberian-flagged handysize is moored in Charleston, South Carolina, having arrived there from Sao Sebastiao in Brazil on 30 January.
The ship is listed as owned by Smooth Navigation and managed by Beta Maritime of Piraeus, which could not be contacted.
Clarksons lists the bulker as the only ship in Beta's fleet.
Judge orders sale
An order by US District Judge Richard Mark Gergel, of the federal court in Charleston, shows the auction is the result of a case relating to the shipment of over 15,000 tonnes of iron from the port of Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Surabaya in Indonesia.
German plaintiff Carl Schroter GmbH & Co KG filed a complaint on 30 January alleging that the iron was damaged by saltwater contact during the voyage.
Assigned the maritime claims of Interfer-Steel and Commodities FZE, Schroter brought three causes of action against Smooth Navigation for negligence, breach of bailment, and a request for attachment. It later added a breach of contract claim.
The estimated expense of maintaining the vessel is extensive, the judge said.
A total of $11,850 has been spent to move it to a commercial anchorage and there had been $68,170 in dockage fees as of 22 February.
The estimated fair value is $2.75m, the court said, and this continues to diminish as its facilities deteriorate.
Smooth Navigation offered a first preferred mortgage as security, but the court ruled this "unsuitable".
The minimum bid for the ship is $1.25m.
Clean port state record for four years
The London P&I Club started insurance cover for the unit on 14 April. The club said it could not comment on the situation.
The vessel was built at Saiki Heavy Industries in Japan. It has four 40-tonne cranes.
It is not currently loaded.
Sealed bids can be submitted in writing before the sale, in person or over the internet.
A condition survey has been carried out and a report and photos will be available to prospective buyers.
The ship was reported sold to clients of Egon Oldendorff in 2002 for $8m and then to undisclosed interests in 2014 for $5.3m.
VesselsValue assesses it as worth $1.72m for further trading or scrap.
It has a clean port state control record going back to a 2016 detention in Germany.
Class society NKK suspended its class on 1 April due to an overdue survey, according to Equasis, but it also lists the next survey as due on 26 November this year.
