A Singaporean bulker owner is looking to arrest a Taiwanese-owned ship in Virginia after its charter was terminated earlier this summer.
Dry Bulk Singapore filed a $1.8m lawsuit last Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia federal court, accusing Dong Lien Maritime SA Panama, a subsidiary of Shih Wei Navigation, of abruptly canceling its charter while the 58,100-dwt Eternity SW (built 2011) was discharging cargo in Quebec in July.
Neither Shih Wei nor Dong Lien are named as defendants, only the ship, whose registered owner is Eternity Pescadores SA Panama.
According to the complaint, the Eternity SW had been chartered to Dutch risk management firm 24Vision Chartering Solutions in 2018. The ship was then subchartered to Dry Bulk Singapore in April.
As part of the 24Vision-Dong Lien charter, 24Vision had a three day grace period to pay the agreed $12,500 per day hire. On 11 July, the complaint read, Dong Lien notified Dry Bulk Singapore 24Vision had defaulted on the charter.
On 27 July, Dong Lien canceled the charter and removed the Eternity SW from Dry Bulk Singapore's chartering service.
The complaint said Dry Bulk Singapore suffered $550,306 in damages and $1.2m in lost profits. The Eternity SW was expected to leave Quebec for Africa, then South America.
According to automatic identification system data, the Panamanian-flagged ship is currently ballasting to Norfolk, Virginia. It is insured by Britannia P&I.
Calls to Shih Wei Navigation were not answered. An email to 24Vision seeking comment was not returned.
