PORTLAND, Maine — Allegedly unpaid debts of the luxury ferry Nova Star have risen to more than $1 million, as the ship remains in the custody of federal authorities.
Four companies have sought liens on the vessel seized last week by federal marshals and put into the custody of National Maritime Services until claims of unpaid debts are resolved.
At the time, company Portland Pilots claimed Nova Star Cruises Ltd. owed it $195,897 for piloting the cruise vessel in and out of the harbor during 61 different trips.
Other vendors have since asked to intervene in the case, claiming another $800,000 in unpaid bills for fuel and chandlery services, providing food and other necessities to the ship.
Dennis Bailey, a spokesman for the company, said late last week that the company “will be settling all of its outstanding obligations, as it always has, in the next few weeks.”
He wrote in an email Friday that the company is not commenting further on the claims against the ship, which remains anchored in Casco Bay until the unpaid debts are resolved, either by the company making payment, posting a bond that would allow it to regain possession of the ship or having the court approve sale of the ship to satisfy the debts.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich one week ago approved the ship’s arrest after the complaint filed by Portland Pilots.
On Tuesday, fuel supplier World Fuel Services asked for a warrant to arrest the ship. On Wednesday, Portland-based chandlery Brown Ship Services claimed $48,110 in unpaid bills. And on Thursday, another fuel supplier, Sprague Operating Resources LLC, also requested a warrant of ship arrest in relation to its debts.
Later Thursday evening, Rich allowed World Fuel to intervene in the Portland Pilots claim.
Other companies told television station WMTW earlier this week that they are owed money, including another chandlery in South Portland and advertisers who said they are owed for radio and television ads that have already run.
The company also faces a personal injury lawsuit from Kelli Cody of Peabody, Massachusetts, who alleged she suffered injury due to negligence of personnel on the ship. She filed her complaint in U.S. District Court against Nova Star Cruises and its Miami-based staffing contractor Fleetpro Ocean Inc.
Nova Star and Fleetpro have denied liability and challenged the federal court’s jurisdiction for the unspecified injury claims that Cody alleges caused her lost time from work, medical expenses and other damages. The case is pending.
The mounting debts claimed by vendors come after the close of the ship’s second and likely final season traveling between Portland and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The province gave the company about $31.5 million ($41.5 million Canadian) in subsidies to operate that line over the two seasons, disbursing another $1.9 million (Canadian) to the company on Oct. 20.
The company was unable to meet ridership goals in both seasons and faced the headwind of a recession in Canada for its second season, which the company said contributed to a 40 percent drop in traffic from Canada.
The Nova Star had missed passenger total goals for both seasons, with fewer than 60,000 passengers after setting a goal of 100,000 in its first season and a goal of 80,000 passengers in its second season.
The province late last month announced that it would not renegotiate a deal with Nova Star Cruises for its next season, preferring the proposal from Bay Ferries Ltd., the company based in Prince Edward Island, Canada, that operated the high-speed Cat ferry between Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor and Portland from 2006 to 2009.
Bay Ferries and the province have not revealed details of that new proposal, including what ship the service would use or whether it would include a stop in Bar Harbor.