ST. LOUIS - A Wisconsin-based vessel manufacturing company that has been out of business since 2012 was taken to federal court for allegedly preventing a Lake of the Ozarks recreational cruise company from selling a boat.
According to a complaint filed on May 7 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri, plaintiff Tropic Island Cruises Inc. purchased a recreational cruise vessel from defendant Skipperliner Industries Inc. in 1999. The purchase value was $800,000, but the plaintiff's lender would only finance $700,000 for the vessel before it was safely transported from Wisconsin to Missouri.
As a result, the plaintiff financed the remaining $100,000 through a preferred mortgage with the defendant. According to the complaint, the mortgage was promptly satisfied by the plaintiff's lender once the boat was delivered in satisfactory condition.
Despite this and unbeknownst to the plaintiff for over 20 years, the defendant failed to file a formal release or satisfaction of the preferred mortgage.
When Tropic Island Cruises recently attempted to sell the boat, the U.S. Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center discovered the unreleased preferred mortgage and has since barred the boat from being sold or operated until the mortgage is satisfied.
The plaintiff says it has been unable to contact the defendant since it went out of business almost 10 years ago.
The plaintiff does not seek any damages and only asks the court to extinguish the mortgage.
The plaintiff is represented by Fox Smith LLC of St. Louis.