Perseveranza di Navaigazione is seeking $1.2m from Kentucky tugboat owner Marquette Transportation for allegedly running a barge into one of the Italian owner's medium-range-two tankers.
The 50,800-dwt Miss Benedetta (built 2012) was travelling inbound in the Houston Ship Channel on 13 August toward the Magellan Terminal to load cargo, according to the lawsuit.
Marquette Gulf Inland's 2,000-bhp tugboat St Thomas (built 2010) was travelling outbound as it pushed two barges out of the channel.
The two vessels' crews agreed to pass on each other's port side but the St Thomas flotilla "improperly turned to port" at about 2:45 am.
As a result, St. Thomas' lead barge crossed the channel's centre line and collided into Miss Benedetta's port side, according to documents filed in the US federal court in Houston.
Perseveranza asserts the "unseaworthiness, fault and negligence" of the St Thomas and its crew and Marquette are the accident's sole cause, David Walker, an attorney with Houston law firm Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams, wrote in a six-page suit against Marquette.
Calls Walker and Marquette were not immediately returned.
The suit listed a dozen reasons why Marquette is at fault, including the St Thomas' unseaworthiness, careless navigation by its crew and other negligent acts.
As a result of the accident, the Miss Benedetta sustained delays and physical damages leading to $1.2m in revenue loss and vessel repairs.
The suit also demands that the St. Thomas be arrested per admiralty law, condemned and sold.
Guiseppe d'Amato-led Perseveranza owns four tankers and three bulkers.
Kentucky-based Marquette, led by chief executive John Eckstein, consists of three divisions operating 50 river tugs, 93 gulf-inland tugs and nine offshore tugs.
