Freehill Recovers $13.2M Judgment in Loss of Use Case

In January 2008 the DREDGE NEW YORK, the largest dredge of its kind, was struck by the tanker ORANGE SUN in New York harbor. The dredge was heavily damaged and repairs took seven months. While the owners of the ORANGE SUN and their insurers conceded liability for the collision, and paid for the repairs to the dredge, they refused to compensate our client, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, for their loss of use of the dredge. Great Lakes calculated their damages from the seven month loss of the DREDGE NEW YORK at an amount of approximately $12M. The ORANGE SUN interests maintained that Great Lakes sustained no damages because it finished the dredging projects that the dredge was working on at the time of the incident on time and earned the full amount due under those contracts.

After a week-long bench trial in January 2012, the Judge accepted Great Lakes’ loss of use theory of damages and awarded $13.2M , including interest. Taking into account the amounts paid for the physical damages, the total recovery for our client was approximately $20M. Freehill attorneys: Wayne Meehan, Gina Venezia and Pat Bonner. The case was tried with co-counsel Winston & Strawn.