A company controlled by Argentine ship repairer Jorge Proios has asked a US federal judge to throw out an asset seizure order secured by bulker owner Foremost Group.

Axion Management Ship has asked district judge Kevin Castel to release nearly $1.27m in funds that were frozen as part of Foremost’s dispute with Proios SA over the delayed repair of a kamsarmax that hit a bridge in Argentina.

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En May Maritime, the owner of Foremost’s 85,000-dwt En May (built 2017), secured an order from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in September to seize up to $1.84m to secure its claims against Proios SA, a ship repair contractor controlled by Jorge Proios.

The dispute centres on the repair of the En May after it struck a bridge in Argentine waters of the Parana River.

But a lawyer for Axion, a Delaware-registered marine services firm of which Jorge Proios is listed as a member, argued that the Interaudi Bank account that was frozen in the dispute was not in New York but in Miami, outside of the district court’s jurisdiction.

Brian Eisenhower, the Hill Rivkins lawyer representing Axion, also argued that the funds that were frozen include cash that does not belong to Proios SA.

“En May cannot show that Axion’s account with Interaudi Bank is in the Southern District of New York, because it is not,” he said.

Foremost has yet to respond to the motion.

“We will continue to engage in this legal process and remain confident justice will be rendered,” a spokesman said.

For what is known as a Rule B maritime attachment, the targeted assets must be within the district in question. In the case of a Miami bank account, that means the US District Court for the Southern District of Miami.

But Foremost, which is represented by Yaakov Adler of Freehill Hogan & Mahar, already sought an asset seizure order in that court in September.

US district judge Roy Altman took only a day to throw out the request because at that time, Foremost’s lawyers indicated that the funds were believed to be in New York.

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