The aframax tanker at the centre of a legal dispute tied to its lengthy detention in Venezuela is effectively beyond repair.
That is according to Vafias-linked Psara Energy, which is demanding $19.86m from bareboat charterer Space Shipping and guarantor Geden Holdings.
Psara Energy had chartered the 104,500-dwt aframax CV Stealth (built 2005) to Space Shipping in 2010 for five years at a varying rate that started at $9,750 per day for the first year.
In September 2014, while the vessel was under a subcharter to Glencore-controlled ST Shipping & Transport, Venezuelan police detained it at Puerto La Cruz in September 2014, saying the ship's voyage charterer was planning to use the unit to load a cargo of stolen oil.
The CV Stealth was released in October last year but was redelivered only in March, after arriving in Trinidad under tow. The formerly ABS-classed tanker remains at anchor off Port of Spain.
"The vessel is in such bad condition that in [the] owners' view, it would cost more to tow her and repair her than her [repaired] market value," wrote London barrister Alexander Wright of Chambers and Partners at 4 Pump Court in a statement of claim for the underlying London arbitration.
Psara Energy's claim represents the $18m that the CV Stealth might be worth if it were repaired, plus some unpaid charter hire and other claims.
Pursuant to previous arbitration awards, Geden Holdings has been paying bareboat charter hire to Psara Energy during its detention.
Numerous subcharterers and affected parties, including ST Shipping, have already litigated large claims, counterclaims and cross-claims arising from the seizure of the CV Stealth.
In February, the UK commercial court ruled in Geden Holdings' favour in an action in which Space Shipping was seeking up to $18.3m from Glencore pursuant to a series of arbitration awards. But it is unclear how much of this sum was available from a "stakeholder account" that a London judge ordered be paid out to Space Shipping.
Adding to the legal tangle, Psara Energy and Geden Holdings have pursued claims in both directions over alleged maintenance deficiencies of long-term charter tonnage, including the 116,000-dwt crude tanker Stealth Berana (ex-Spike, built 2010) and 105,000-dwt tanker CS Stealth (built 2006), whose beneficial ownership is a matter of dispute.
