By Lisa M. Goolik, J.D.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has held that the City of Newport Beach, Calif., could not maintain an action in rem against a vessel abandoned by its owner in 2010 because the city could not demonstrate that the vessel's owner authorized the city to provide storage services for the vessel.
According to the complaint, the vessel was impounded in October 2010, after it was found "attached to a mooring without authorization" within the city. The city sent a letter to the vessel's owner in November 2010, advising the owner that he could retrieve the vessel upon payment of certain towing and storage fees. However, the owner never responded to the letter. The owner was arrested in Utah in March 2015, and at the time of the opinion, was in custody there.
The city brought an action in rem against the vessel, seeking to recover accumulated "wharfage" fees of more than $83,000.
Requirement of in rem jurisdiction. The city argued that an action in rem was appropriate because it held a maritime lien on the vessel for the storage fees. As a rule, "a maritime action in rem will be available only in connection with a maritime lien." The only maritime liens recognized today "are those created by statute and those historically recognized in maritime," explained the court.
Maritime liens. Under the Federal Maritime Lien Act, "a person providing necessaries to a vessel on the order of the owner or a person authorized by the owner ... as a maritime lien on the vessel [and] may bring a civil action in rem to enforce the lien."
Assuming that "wharfage services" constituted "necessaries," the court nevertheless concluded that the city had not established that it held a valid maritime lien. The city, explained the court, failed to establish that the owner authorized the charges. In fact, the city expressly alleged that neither the owner, nor anyone on his behalf, responded in any way to the city's letter concerning the impoundment of the vessel.
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