MIAMI — A Connecticut-based insurance company recently filed an admiralty and maritime claim in a South Florida federal court on behalf of a client whose vessel was damaged by fire shortly after it was serviced by three Fort Lauderdale companies in 2016.
XL Specialty Insurance Company, based in Stamford, Connecticut, filed the 11-page complaint July 16 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Admiralty on behalf of its client, Kuddles Corp. The Fort Lauderdale companies named as defendants in the case are Cable Marine, a boat yard that provides professional vessel repair and maintenance services; and Alvern Marine Exhaust and Deangelo Marine Exhaust, both providing professional marine exhaust installation, fabrication and design services.
XL Specialty's claim comes after Kuddles Corp.'s 1988 85-foot motor vessel, the "Sea Loafers II," was damaged in a fire while underway in September 2016 when a newly installed exhaust riser on the vessel's port side ignited, according to the lawsuit. The fire occurred "within hours" after the vessel left Cable Marine following the riser installation, the lawsuit said.
"As a result of the fire, significant soot, smoke and heat damage was sustained to the Vessel's engine compartment including, but not limited to, the exhaust risers, machinery, engine space components, overheads, bulkheads, etc.," the lawsuit said. "The fire board the M/V SEA LOAFER II was caused by the improper manufacturing and/or installation of the exhaust risers by the defendants."
The plaintiff in the case sustained more than $46,000 in damage, "no part of which has been paid, although duly demanded" over the fire, which the company claims is "rightly the responsibility of the defendants," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, breach of contract, breach of implied warranty of wormanline performance, breach of express and implied warranties, and strict product liability.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola Jr.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Kuddles Corp. by Fort Lauderdale attorney John J. Tomaselli and New York attorney Christopher M. Schierloh under case No. 0:18-cv-61610-RNS.