Another Bunker Supplier Comes Up Lean
Aegean Bunkering (USA) LLC v. M/T AMAZON, 2018 U.S.App. LEXIS 18659, 2018 WL 3359105 (2d Cir., July 10, 2018)
The Second Circuit in a per curiam decision affirmed summary judgment dismissing the claim of a bunker supplier which claimed a maritime lien on the vessel as well as its claim for unjust enrichment. Noting that the basis of the maritime lien was grounded in whether the fuel was provided “on the order of the owner or person authorized by the owner” as required by 46 U.S.C. § 31342(a), here the claimant provided the fuel as a sub-contractor through a chain of contracts. It also failed to prove that any party in the chain of contracts were in any agency relationship.
The court also rejected the claimant’s argument that a clause in the O.W. Bunker contract purports to bind the buyer of the fuel to the contract terms of the down the line provider on the basis that a maritime lien cannot be created by contract.
Finally, the court affirmed dismissal of the claim for unjust enrichment as the claim was in rem; though maritime law recognizes a claim for unjust enrichment, it is an in personam claim only.
