Tiffany files lawsuit over bottom-fouling incident

Rajesh Joshi and John McLaughlin - Friday 9 January 2009

Giuseppe Mauro Rizzo Giuseppe Mauro Rizzo

TIFFANY Navigation has brought a suit in New York to recover more than $400,000 it claims to have lost in a bottom-fouling incident in Dalrymple Bay. 

The lawsuit has named as defendant Torre del Greco-based Bottiglieri di Navigazione, which was renamed Rizzo-Bottiglieri-De Carlini (RBD) in 2007. 

The lawsuit has been brought against it under its former name, as it appeared on the 2006 charterparty involved. 

Giuseppe Mauro Rizzo, managing director of RBD, denied any responsibility in the alleged bottom-fouling. 

He said that Tiffany had apparently targeted his company as the initial charterer of the Yasa Unity but that it was simply the first in a chain. It had chartered the vessel in turn to an entity called Global Marine Investor. 

He suggested that Tiffany’s assumption was that it would simply pursue GMI if the judgement went against it. 

Papers filed by Tiffany in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York claim that the Marshall Islands-flag, 75,580 dwt Yasa Unity, which was delivered as a newbuilding in March 2006 and immediately chartered to Bottiglieri di Navigazione for an 11-13 month term at $16,600 a day, suffered a 30-day delay in the Australian coal loading bay while loading a cargo of coal bound for Shanghai and Zhenjiang. 

Bottiglieri di Navigazione returned the ship to Tiffany upon completion of the charter, but the “unrelated third party” who took the ship next filed and won a $151,000 payment from Tiffany towards “underperformance”. 

The third party reported to Tiffany that the Yasa Unity “began to underperform immediately upon commencement of the charter”. 

A legal source associated with Tiffany in New York refused to divulge the identity of the third party, but confirmed it was not GMI. 

When the ship was redelivered this time, Tiffany inspected it closely and established that it had suffered “significant bottom fouling” in Dalrymple Bay during its previous timecharter. 

Tiffany then incurred “costly” expenses for cleaning and repairs. 

The lawsuit quantifies damages of $215,000 including the $151,000 penalty paid to the third party. Together with interest and fees, Tiffany is claiming a total of $412,000. 

Tiffany has asked the court to issue an attachment order for Bottliglieri’s assets in the court’s US jurisdiction.

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