US District Judge Casey Rogers, of the federal court in Pensacola ordered the attachment of the 28,600-gt Sampson(built 2010), which is currently docked at the Florida city.

Houston-based Cal Dive, an offshore vessel owner, alleges that its Gulf Offshore Construction management subsidiary is owed $1.62m in invoiced bills for manning services.

Gulf was hired by CarVal, which is the investment arm of US agricultural giant Cargill, to help commissioning of the ship for a contract with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and then to provide manning for the vessel.

But