D'Amico Dry has won a longstanding lawsuit against Primera Maritime over a 2008 freight-forwarding agreement.
A US federal judge has awarded almost $3.2m to the Italian shipowner in a judgment filed 28 December in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The award consists of $1.79m for a June 2009 English judgment and $1.37m in interest accrued since that decision was made.
"D’Amico Dry’s 10 -year saga to enforce its English High Court judgment against Primera Maritime and the Coronis controlled alter egos of Primera is reaching an end," d'Amico Dry said.
William Bennet, Primera's lawyer, has reached out to Primera for comment on the case's outcome.
Judge John Koeltl ruled in a 68-page decision that Primera was liable for the initial judgment and interest through 2009-founded alter ego Primebulk as a "successor-in-interest" to Primera.
"In this case, Primera transferred its assets to Primebulk, a corporation created apparently to avoid liability to D'Amico for the English settlement," Koeltl said in his ruling.
"After the transfer, Primera continued to exist as a corporation, but only as a shell devoid of assets."
Primera and Primebulk are among 17 affiliated shipping companies founded since 1990 by Nicholas Coronis, set up essentially to move around debts and liabilities.
These businesses collectively owned four bulk carriers.
Paul Coronis, his son, became Primera's director while he and other members of the Coronis family had positions and stakes related to the other companies, including Primebulk.
Primera was set up as an alter ego by the family that "siphoned funds …from Primera and directed the money to other Coronis controlled companies,” Koeltl said in his ruling.
“Much of the testimony from Paul Coronis was not credible and his testimony cannot be relied upon,” he said.
