Saipan Sea Ventures files for bankruptcy
Saipan Sea Ventures Inc. has the dubious distinction of being the first to submit a bankruptcy petition before the U.S. District Court for the NMI this year.
Saipan Sea Ventures Inc. president Margaret Pellegrino, through counsel Alexis Fallon, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A Chapter 11 petition allows a debtor to enter into an agreement with creditors under which all or part of the business continues. Chapter 11’s objective is to adjust and reorganize a debtor’s obligations so as to allow the business to continue.
Fallon said Saipan Sea Ventures’ estimated assets are between $500,001 and $1 million and estimated liabilities are also between $500,001 and $1 million. The estimated number of creditors is between one and 49.
On the list of 20 creditors with the largest unsecured claims are the Commonwealth Ports Authority in the amount of $331,000; First Hawaiian Bank in the amount of $125,931; and Yang Ji Corp. in the amount of $43,422.
Saipan Sea Ventures has a lease agreement with CPA for space at the Port of Saipan, generally known as Delta Dock.
According to Fallon, Delta Dock was affected by Typhoon Soudelor and needs to be repaired.
Last April, a boat owner filed a lawsuit against Saipan Sea Ventures and Saipan USA Fisheries Inc. after a boat got loose and struck his moored vessel at the Port of Saipan at the height of Typhoon Soudelor last Aug. 2.
Last year, only four bankruptcy cases were filed in the district court.
As far as the dock goes if it is damaged and CPA has not repaired the dock then the ‘Lessee’ need not pay until repair is made, then only from the time of the completion of repair. (taking info only from this article)
As far as the vessel “breaking loose” and hitting another vessel the insurance is supposed to pay for the damage to both vessels (if they had insurance)
If this is Pelegrino’s charter vessels, then by law they are required to carry insurance if operating out of CPA property along with liability for the passengers and other vessels being damaged and or sunk by the offending vessel. (not sure about the hull insurance for said offending vessel.
This identical situation happened in Agat, Guam years ago. One of my vessels broke loose, the dock was also destroyed, another large diving vessel was damaged. My insurance paid for the other vessel repair and also the little damage to mine.
I did not have to pay for he mooring space at Agat until after they repaired the area. (Almost 1 year)
Not wishing bad luck on Peligrino family, but it seemed that the ocean ventures tony was involved in has not been very good for this family over the years. They should go back to court and try to collect the over $8mil from the NMI Govt that has been owed for many years now. This would “bail her out” of this financial situation.