Tarstar Shipping Co. v. Century Shipline, Ltd., Century Shipline & Agencies, Inc., and Koctug Line

Tarstar Shipping Co. (“Tarstar”), owner of the vessel M/V ALIKI I.P., sued Koctug Line (“Koctug”), a Turkish shipping company, for unjustified refusal to honor Tars-tar’s notice of lien on freights or sub-freights owing from Koctug to the vessel’s charterer, Century Shipline, Ltd. (“Century”). 1 After a non-jury trial, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Hon. Robert J. Ward, J.) held in favor of Tarstar and awarded it damages in the amount of $85,071.55 plus interest from March 8, 1976, the date on which notice was served.

The District Court described the…