Pacific Tugboat Service (PTS) will allow Advanced Environmental Group (AEG) to use its barge after arresting the flatboat on the grounds that AEG allegedly stole it.
Both sides have agreed to let California-based AEG use the vessel "on a limited case by case/job-by-job basis" to service oceangoing ships, earn revenue and thus avoid legal exposure to third parties.
In the meantime, they will work on drafting a "standstill agreement" that will modify Pacific Tug's arrest of the barge, according to court documents filed in US District Court for the Central District of California.
"The parties jointly stipulate and hereby request that the existing arrest order be temporarily modified to allow the barge to be deployed within the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex for the purposes of servicing AEG customer vessels, but to remain under arrest until further notice or ruling of this court," court papers state.
An expedited hearing set for 26 November at AEG's request was canceled as part of the agreement.
"It looks like we will settle soon," AEG chief executive Ruben Garcia told TradeWinds.
A call to Joseph Walsh, PTS' attorney with Califirnia law firm Collier Walsh, was not immediately returned.
AEG has said it does not dispute PTS' ownership of the barge but has pointed out that it has $10m worth of proprietary emission control equipment that AEG needs to run its business.
PTS seized the barge three weeks ago, alleging AEG stole it by failing to return it after falling behind in payments in 2016 for a four-year charter through November.
Last year, they entered into a settlement agreement in which AEG would buy the barge for $900,000 but AEG did not pay that so PTS was awarded $765,188, according to court documents.
PTS said AEG in late October took the barge without PTS' permission instead of paying the court-ordered award and agreeing to another job o new terms.
