Trawlers spur a court fight Ownership suit follows a switch by Russians

Friday, September 3, 1999

By ARTHUR C. GORLICK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A tangle of Russian policies over fishing and who should own 11 North Pacific super trawlers has reached all the way to the pocketbooks of several Seattle maritime companies who have filed suit to collect money they say they're owed.

Seattle companies stand to lose as much as $100 million a year under a Russian government decision to transfer ownership of the big fishing boats, attorneys on one side of the dispute say.

Among the companies are Seattle suppliers of expert technicians aboard the ships, Seattle shipyards that have repaired or serviced them and vendors of food and other supplies, the attorneys say.

The battle erupted in King County Superior Court, where Seattle-based Far East Maritime Services, Far East Maritime Agency and Pacific Enterprises Inc. sued other Seattle companies, including Pacific Trawlers Inc., Sunmar Shipping Corp., and officials connected to them.

The two related Far East Maritime companies and Pacific Enterprises charge that Sunmar, Pacific Trawlers and others conspired to have ownership of the vessels transferred so that they could seize control of operations of the 11 vessels without assuming financial obligations.

At stake is control of an estimated 41 percent to 50 percent of all the North Pacific white fish sold everywhere in the world: in supermarkets, restaurants, fish-and-chips stands or at fresh fish stores.

Among those who say they stand to lose the most is Far East Maritime.

"Far East Maritime had a contract with the company that chartered the vessels to act as their operator and agent, including (as) purchaser of all supplies and services needed to operate them," said the company's Seattle attorney, Dennis Moran.

"As the new venture formed up, they just waved 'thank you, very much' to the old Seattle vendors and said they wouldn't pay those guys for that."

Pacific Enterprises, a key vendor with about 230 employees, supplied seven of the vessels with expert specialists and technicians who worked aboard as managers, operators of onboard fish processing equipment and deck bosses.

The company currently has 54 of its specialists aboard the vessels, which haven't touched a port since March or April, before the transfer of ownerships was ordered, attorneys said.

"These specialists generate the income that enables Pacific Enterprise to operate, and without them, Pacific Enterprise will be forced to cease functioning in its current form," said Stan Piatek, Pacific Enterprise's co-president, in court documents.

"The number of Pacific Enterprise employees worldwide will shrink by well over half, and there will be massive layoffs at its Seattle office."

Bruce Hull and Dan Harris, attorneys for Pacific Enterprise, said they will attempt to have the vessels seized, along with their cargo of fish, if they visit any Pacific port.

They also say in court documents that captains of the vessels have been ordered to deny the specialists access to telephones, fax machines or the Internet.

Joshua Preece, attorney for Pacific Trawlers, Sunmar and its officials, said he has not received authorization to speak for the companies and that Hans Mauritzen, head of the companies, was not immediately available for comment.

In court documents, however, companies say that the specialists willingly work for the new owners and operators of the vessels and charge that they have not been paid for months by Pacific Enterprise.

Harris agreed that they have not been paid because their contract requires payment to come from funds received by Far East Maritime, which has been cut off from payment in the ordered change of ownership.

Dave Gens, chief financial officer for Far East Maritime, said his company had been doing business with previous owners of the vessels, Zao Super and the Russian Federation since 1995.

The Russian Federation retained an ownership stake because it had helped finance construction of the Spanish-built vessels, valued at $450 million.

Far East Maritime had contracted with Sunmar to take packages of the processed fish off the vessels while they remained at sea and to take them to various ports for sale, Gens said in court documents.

The company also "provided Sunmar a great deal of proprietary trade secret information," he said. The suit claims the companies are using that proprietary information for profit.

"Unbeknownst to (Far East Maritime), Sunmar was plotting with (several individuals and Dalmoreprodukt, a Russian fishing company with Seattle offices) to seize control of the vessels and push (Far East Maritime) aside," Gens said in court documents.

On June 29, the Russian Fishing Committee voided the contract and gave use of the ships to Dalmoreprodukt, which brought Sunmar aboard to operate them.

When former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin visited Seattle in July, Gens and others said they met with Yevgeny Nazdratenko, governor of the Primorsky Krai province, who accompanied him.

"They showed us a letter saying the new companies were a more efficient operation," Gens said yesterday in a telephone call from South Korea.

"They haven't paid for the food they were providing the 1,400 crew members aboard the vessels and they were putting fish in our packaging with our logo on it that they hadn't paid for, so why wouldn't they be more efficient."

A committee of creditors is being formed in an effort to obtain reimbursement for unpaid goods and services, Gens said. Trial is set for January 2001.

P-I reporter Arthur C. Gorlick can be reached at 206-448-8306 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it