A federal judge in Oregon has ordered the 51 million metric tonnes of wheat aboard the Vigorous seized, as the wide-ranging legal dispute around the ship continues.
Wednesday, Judge Michael Mosman ordered the wheat aboard the 14-year-old 52,500-dwt bulker attached, following a lawsuit filed last week by Greek shipbroker Medmar, who is seeking to collect $3.4m in a breach of contract suit.
Medmar had chartered the ship from Vigorous Shipping & Trading, the ship's registered owner. It then subchartered the ship to Anglo Eastern Navigation who subchartered it on to Midstar. Midstar had wheat to deliver to war-torn Yemen, to feed starving citizens in the midst of a civil war. Medmar maintains it was owed, and not paid, money after the cargo was loaded onto the ship.
But days later, the ship was attached at the behest of Pacific Gulf Shipping Company, who is seeking to collect on a $22.6m arbitration award from George and Stathis Goudromichalis after the brothers abandoned a ship in Brazil in 2015.
The ship remains docked northwest of Portland, Oregon in Longview, Washington. Wednesday, Mosman denied Vigorous Shipping & Trading's attempt to drop the attachment. Attorneys for the company have argued the assortment of Gourdomichalis-connected companies named in the lawsuit are not legal alter egos and cannot be held responsible for the abandonment.
Midstar and Yemeni Al-Saeed Trading Company have argued the parties involved in the case must find a way to free the ship by posting security, having its insurer file a letter of undertaking or having the cargo loaded onto another ship in order to make sure it gets to Yemen.
According to the World Food Programme, the three-plus year old Civil War has left 20 million of the 29 million Yemenis dependent on food assistance. Eight million would be starving without external assistance.
According to court papers, the wheat was to be distributed to food aid programs upon its arrival in Yemen.
