An arrested Liberian-flagged containership will be sold in an online auction next month after its owner failed to pay its bills.
The 2,872-teu, Chinese-built Arica (built 2007) is lying at anchor off Delaware and is to be offloaded free of all liens, claims, mortgages and encumbrances.
A sale order has been made by the US District Court for the District of Delaware for 22 July.
It is thought to be the first court sale of a ship in the district for about 25 years.
The vessel previously traded under the charter name Maersk Jakobstad. A full crew remains on board.
The ship, owned by FS Arica of Liberia, was arrested on 20 May by Turkish ship suppliers Atlas Uluslararasi Kumanyacilik and Atlas Gemi Vanalari.
Through the vessel’s previous manager, Columbia Shipmanagement, the shipowner ordered supplies including wires, cables and valves from Atlas, court documents show.
They were delivered last October and November, but the bills were never paid. The Atlas companies are demanding $100,000.
More plaintiffs pile in
German bunker supplier Deutsche Calpam has since joined the action after not being paid for 250 tonnes of fuel oil and 175 tonnes of marine gasoil that were delivered in Kingston in April. The bunkers were worth $151,573 in total.
Charterer Network Shipping also then became a plaintiff when FS Arica allegedly breached the contract terms. It is claiming $333,000.
The total owing to all three is $581,625.
A minimum auction price has been set at 200% of this figure, ie $1.16m.
The vessel, classed by DNV GL and insured by the Standard Club, is listed as having changed on 2 June to the management of NSC Shipping of Germany.
NSC told TradeWinds: "We can confirm that NSC took over the technical management of [the] Arica just recently, ie by [the] beginning of June 2020."
The company referred further enquiries to the owner's representative, Interunity Management Corporation of Greece, which has subsequently been contacted.
Third video auction for broker
The ship was detained in the Netherlands in 2018 over a deficiency relating to the content of sulphur in its fuel.
This will be the third video auction handled in the coronavirus lockdown by CW Kellock, the official UK Admiralty shipbroker.
A SAM Shipping bulker arrested as a result of a fraud dispute will also be auctioned in the US next month.
Credit Suisse, as the mortgagee, obtained an order in the District Court of the Southern District of Texas to sell the 32,600-dwt SAM Eagle (built 2010) on 15 July.
In May, the broker sold off Smooth Navigation’s 24,306-dwt handysize bulker Evolution (built 1995).
Eric Martin contributed to this story.
