THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220326
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The owners of a freighter that spilled about 9,000 gallons of fuel oil in the Elizabeth River in December 1993 have sued the owners of the tug that collided with the freighter and punctured its hull.
The National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia filed the $1.6 million lawsuit Friday in Norfolk federal court against several subsidiaries of Moran Towing Corp.
The suit seeks repayment of the money that the Saudi Arabian shipping line spent paying for the cleanup of oil and for property damages as a result of the spill.
The spill caused little environmental harm thanks in part to its size and to the rapid response of the Navy, Coast Guard and private oil spill control personnel.
The spill was caused when the tug Harriet Moran collided with the freighter Saudi Diriyah late Dec. 1, rupturing a fuel tank in the larger vessel as it was being moved to Lambert's Point Docks from Norfolk International Terminals on the Elizabeth River.
The dispute is over the cause of the collision.
``We dispute a lot about how this happened,'' said Mark Coberly, an attorney with Vandeventer, Black, Meredith & Martin, which represents Moran.
The lawsuit alleges that the Harriet Moran rammed the Saudi Diriyah, a combination bulk cargo and container carrier, as it was moving into position to turn the ship in the Elizabeth River's main channel.
The oil spill was ``caused solely by and due wholly to the fault, neglect, and want of care of the Harriet Moran, her owner and the persons in charge of her navigation,'' the suit alleges.
The Harriet Moran was owned and operated by the various subsidiaries of Moran Towing named in the suit.
Coberly would not elaborate on how Moran's account of the incident differs from National Shipping's. Moran will file a response to the suit soon.
``We obviously don't agree with everything set forth in the filing . . . ,'' he said. ``And we certainly dispute that we are entirely responsible.''
Moran Towing is a Greenwich, Conn.-based firm that operates tugs and barges in ports up and down the East Coast. It operates about 10 tugs in Hampton Roads.
Moran is one of two tug companies that do most of the docking and undocking of large oceangoing vessels throughout the port of Hampton Roads.
Moran had been contracted in 1992 by National Shipping to dock and undock all its vessels in Hampton Roads. Vessels of the Saudi Arabian shipping line call at port terminals in Norfolk and Portsmouth at least once a week.
National Shipping provides shipping to the Middle East, the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Far East. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BILL KELLEY III/Staff file
ABOVE: The Saudi Diriyah, a combination bulk cargo and container
carrier, was damaged in a collision in the Elizabeth River in
December 1993. About 9,000 gallons of fuel oil were spilled in the
accident. RIGHT: The thick oil taken from the Elizabeth River after
the accident.
KEYWORDS: OIL SPILLS LAWSUITS by CNB