A German court has ordered Roelf Briese to pay damages to an investor because of “erroneous” information contained in a prospectus issued at the height of the shipping boom.
A higher regional court in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, ruled that the shipowner and his company, Briese Schiffahrt, should compensate an investor for information relating to financial forecasts over a 10-year period dating back to 2007.
Dusseldorf law firm MZS, acting on behalf of an investor that took a €50,000 ($58,285) stake, had contested estimates of net proceeds of vessels in the fund, weighed against operating and administrative costs.
On 26 April, the court ruled that Briese had been wrong in its estimates on the operating costs, which have risen due to crew costs relating to multipurpose vessels in the Wangerooge fund.
The parties agreed that charter rates could not be predicted over a 10-year period.
Briese was adjudged to be wrong in assuming that operating and administrative costs would remain constant over the period, MZS said.
Briese could not be contacted this week, but the ruling fuels the prospect of more claims from disgruntled investors. MZS says this is the first such ruling by a higher regional court, and the firm claims to be conducting dozens of similar lawsuits.
“We will continue to vigorously demand compensation from ship fund providers who in 2007 and 2008 prospectuses provided insufficient information on the development of ship operating costs,” attorney Thomas Meschede said.
