Johnson & Towers Baltimore, Inc. v. Dredge

THOMSEN, Chief Judge.

Libelant seeks to establish and enforce a maritime lien against a dredge for work, labor and material furnished to the dredge on the order of a former owner. Claimant, the present owner, has three lines of defense; (1) that the dredge is not a vessel and therefore not subject to a maritime lien; (2) that by virtue of a Maryland statute (Code, Art. 23, secs. 34-38) libelant’s lien was subordinate to a mortgage which was foreclosed, and therefore subordinate to the rights of claimant, which acquired the dredge from the purchaser at the foreclosure sale; and (3) that…