Bercaw and Stefani Win in U.S. Second Circuit for ING Bank N.V. Designated as “Important Maritime Decision” by AMC News

On June 13, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision in ING Bank N.V. v. M/V TEMARA, Nos. 16-3923 & 16-4019 (2d Cir. June 13, 2018), in which the Court concluded that the contract supplier of bunkers (marine fuel) which provided the bunkers to the vessel on the order of the vessel’s time charterer, was party that held the maritime lien on the vessel, in accordance with the Commercial Instruments and Maritime Lien Act, 46 U.S.C. § 31301 et seq. The Second Circuit further concluded that the party that physically delivered the fuel to the vessel on the order of a bunker intermediary did not hold a maritime lien against the vessel. The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment against the physical supplier, but reversed the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the vessel interests on what the lower court had misunderstood to be the statutory requirements of a maritime lien.  

Jim Bercaw and Bob Stefani represented the successful appellant, ING Bank N.V., in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit, as well as in other maritime arrest and maritime attachment proceedings on behalf of ING Bank N.V. across the United States.