Tug and barge company Harley Marine Services is embroiled in a legal fight on both coasts of the US against Macquarie Capital over its ownership and future.

Harley Franco, who founded Harley Marine in 1987, has alleged that the Australian bank and an employee are trying to remove him as chief executive, take over the company and sell it.

Franco is now aiming to delay court proceedings in Seattle, Washington state, to focus on a simultaneous lawsuit in Delaware on the ownership of various Harley ­Marine entities held by the bank.