Crocs clogs may be a favourite brand of water-friendly footwear, but it can be costly when containers full of them fall overboard.
A unit of Germany’s HDI Global has filed a federal lawsuit against a Philadelphia container freight provider over shipments of footwear that went overboard from the 14,000-teu ONE Apus (built 2019).
The complaint by Crocs’ insurer adds to swirling claims that have been lodged over a November 2020 incident that saw about 1,800 containers go overboard.
The incident took place when a stack collapsed while the ship, operated in the services of Singapore-based Ocean Network Express (ONE), was 1,600 nautical miles (2,960 km) north-west of Hawaii while sailing from Yantian in China to Long Beach.
HDI filed its lawsuit in a US federal in Philadelphia against Silver Birch, a non-vessel operating common carrier.
The insurer’s lawyers, led by George Zacharkow of law firm Deasey, Mahoney & Valentini, said the value of the Crocs footwear lost from the ONE Apus totalled $1.14m, not including interest and costs.
Crocs, a Colorado-based company known for its distinctive foam clogs, hired Silver Birch to move 3,261 cartons of footwear from Yantian to Long Beach, according to the lawsuit and bills of ladings attached to the complaint.
The shoes were moved in four different containers on the ONE Apus.
“The shipments were lost overboard and were not delivered to the consignee at the Port of Long Beach,” Zacharkow wrote.
The lawsuit blamed the situation on the seaworthiness of the ONE Apus, but pursues Silver Birch for breaching its contract and its duty to deliver the shipment.
Silver Birch has no phone number listed on the website, and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through its website.
The lawsuit by HDI comes amid litigation before US district judge Paul Engelmayer in a US federal court in New York.
Zacharkow has filed papers telling Engelmayer HDI’s Crocs case may be a “tag-along” action.
