GulfMark sues Bender

GulfMark Offshore filed a lawsuit against Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Wednesday, the same day the Overseas Shipbuilding Group (OSG) released new details about its cancellations at the yard.

GulfMark, a Houston offshore vessel owner, is asking a US federal judge in Mobile to order Bender to pay nearly $44.3m in damages connected to its order for three newbuildings at the Alabama yard.

Legal documents allege nine counts ranging from unjust enrichment to breach of fiduciary duty. (Click here for the full civil complaint.)

Three owners so far have run into problems with orders at Bender.

The owner ordered a trio of 1,500-gt platform supply vessels (PSV) in 2007 for $76.5m, but GulfMark has since backed out of the deal and complained that the yard had stopped working on the vessels.

In the lawsuit, GulfMark says it continued to make progress payments that totaled $44m by March 2009, when the offshore vessel owner claims Bender defaulted on the deal.

But the owner claims that Bender has used the payments for purposes other than finishing its incomplete vessels, one of which was never started.

And GulfMark argues that when it paid $8m for a change order in October, Thomas Bender was aware his shipyard was insolvent and should have made this known.

Nasdaq-listed GulfMark, which owns 96 offshore vessels, also is asking the court to declare that it owns the two incomplete PSV hulls. Bender has revealed negotiations to sell the units to another buyer.

GulfMark is not the only owner to run into problems with Bender. TradeWinds reported Tuesday that Trico Marine also is suing the yard. (Click here for the story.)

Also Wednesday, tanker owner OSG revealed details of its cancellation of six articulated tug-barges (ATBs) and two tugs at Bender. Two tugs and two ATBS are being moved to another yard.

OSG said it forged an agreement with Bender last month to move the vessels for $68m, including a $14m paid to a third-party to release liens on the vessels. The deal also will see OSG pay for the costs of moving the newbuildings and "assuming certain specified obligations" connected to their construction, OSG said.

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