South Carolina State Ports Authority v M/V “Levant Fortune” - US District Ct (District of South Carolina, Charleston Div) (C Weston Houck DJ) - 30 September 1993

Vessel sold by order of Greek court in proceedings denominated “in personam” - Whether necessariesman entitled to bring separate admiralty proceedings against the vessel in America

The plaintiff supplied necessaries to the vessel Levant Fortune (then named Valiant ) at the Port of Charleston, South Carolina, between April 1988 and March 1990, in the total sum of $171,684.34. In June 1990 the vessel was arrested in Piraeus, Greece, by the bank holding the ship’s mortgage. Other creditors of the vessel, including the plaintiff, later joined in the maritime suit instituted in Greece. On 7 August 1990 the plaintiff filed a petition before the Greek court seeking a conservatory attachment of the property of the shipowners, including the vessel, in order to secure its claim for $171,684.34.