New York: Amelia Maritime, unable to locate Integr8 Fuels assets, dismisses alleged wrongful arrest lawsuit

Amelia Maritime Group (Amelia) on Friday (28 July) dropped its lawsuit against Integr8 Fuels (Integr8), the bunker trading and brokerage arm of Navig8, in the US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York for the alleged wrongful arrest of bulk carrier M/V Auzonia in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

On 20 April 2023, Amelia filed a complaint against Integr8 seeking damages of USD 862,735 following the alleged wrongful arrest of its vessel in the UAE, according to court documents sighted by Manifold Times.

The U.S. court on 27 April issued a Writ of Maritime Attachment and Garnishment against Integr8 which was sent to the New York office of Navig8 on 8 May.

On 1 June, Amelia received a letter from Navig8 which stated that “at the time of service of the documents, and through the present, none of the Garnishees held or hold any tangible or intangible property belonging to or being held for the Defendant.”

Amelia’s Writ of Maritime Attachment and Garnishment against Integr8 expired on 26 June leading to it requesting an extension of the court order from the U.S. court.

U.S. District Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke replied ordering Amelia to file a letter by 31 July showing good cause for a 60-day extension of the previous court order and to show cause as to why the court may exercise personal jurisdiction over Integr8 notwithstanding Amelia Maritime’s ability to locate any of Integr8’s funds in the district. 

Ultimately, Amelia sent a notice of voluntary dismissal of the case on 28 July. 

Background

The chain of events started on 20 August 2018 when Harmony Innovation shipping Ltd (Harmony), the then charterers of the vessel, which was named M/V Golden Destiny, entered a contract with Integr8 for the bunker supply of approximately 430 metric tonnes (mt) of bunkers (marine fuel oil) for a total of US 209,410.

In accordance with the contract between Harmony and Integr8, bunkers were provided to M/V Golden Destiny in Thailand on 20 August 2018. At the time of the bunker delivery, the owner of M/V Golden Destiny was Golden Star Marine. On 24 August 2018, Integr8 sent an invoice to Harmony for the bunkers. Harmony allegedly failed to pay for the bunkers. 

On 26 February 2020, 18 months after the bunkers were supplied, Amelia purchased M/V Golden Destiny from Golden Star Marine and was renamed to M/V Auzonia. 

On 14 September 2020, nearly two years after the delivery of the bunkers to Harmony, Integr8 emailed Overseas Marine Enterprises Inc, the current operators of the vessel, alleging Harmony never paid for the bunkers supplied to the vessel and demanded payment for the bunkers from Amelia.

On 30 November 2020, Integr8 sent a second email to Overseas Marine demanding payment from Amelia for the sum of USD 209,410, plus interest in the amount of USD 143,823.93.

On November 28, 2021, Integr8 arrested the vessel in Rotterdam to recover its claim regarding the unpaid bunkers.

The Court in Rotterdam ruled the arrest was wrongful and Integr8 was found liable to reimburse Amelia for its legal fees incurred in defending the arrest.

On November 19, 2022, Integr8 then arrested the vessel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while it was undergoing repairs. Thereafter, Amelia asserted a wrongful arrest claim against Integr8 and is challenging the merits of the arrest in the UAE.

On November 25, 2022, Integr8 demanded arbitration in New York against Amelia claiming, despite the Rotterdam ruling, that Amelia was responsible for the payment of bunkers. However, it withdrew its demand for arbitration against Amelia on 9 December 2022. 

As a result of Integr8’s wrongful arrest of Amelia’s vessel in the UAE, Amelia claimed it has incurred damages in the amount of USD 862,735, which is the amount of the claims for which Amelia was seeking in its lawsuit against Integr8. 

Photo credit: MarineTraffic / Eduard Legkii
Published: 7 August, 2023