Glovegold Shipping Ltd. v. Sveriges Angfartygs Assurans Forening

791 So. 2d 4, 2001 A.M.C. 2922, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 16966, 2000 WL 1880185
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 29, 2000
Docket1D99-1961
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 791 So. 2d 4 (Glovegold Shipping Ltd. v. Sveriges Angfartygs Assurans Forening) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glovegold Shipping Ltd. v. Sveriges Angfartygs Assurans Forening, 791 So. 2d 4, 2001 A.M.C. 2922, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 16966, 2000 WL 1880185 (Fla. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

791 So.2d 4 (2000)

GLOVEGOLD SHIPPING, LIMITED, Appellant,
v.
SVERIGES ANGFARTYGS ASSURANS FORENING d/b/a The Swedish Club, Appellee.

No. 1D99-1961.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

December 29, 2000.
Rehearing Denied August 14, 2001.

*6 Courtney Wilder Stanton and Thomas Corley Smith, of Law Offices of Courtney Wilder Stanton, Jacksonville. Stavros C. Haidemenos, London, and John Stratakis, New York, of Counsel, for Appellant.

George D. Gabel, Jr. and Timothy J. Conner, of Holland & Knight LLP, Jacksonville, for Appellee.

KAHN, J.

This case raises the question of whether a Florida court has jurisdiction over a foreign insurance company that denied coverage to one of its insureds, a foreign shipping company, when the insured vessel was extensively damaged while sailing in Florida waters. In particular, in this case, on February 5, 1996, a ship owned by appellant Glovegold Shipping, Limited (Glovegold) suffered catastrophic engine and other consequential damages off the Florida coast near Jacksonville. We conclude that the requirements of Florida's long-arm statute and the constitutional due process requirements for specific jurisdiction over appellee in Florida are met. We also conclude that the policy of marine insurance here at issue does not contain a valid forum selection provision. Accordingly, we reverse the order dismissing appellant's complaint for lack of jurisdiction and venue, and we remand this case for further proceedings.

I. FACTS

A. THE PARTIES

Appellee, the Swedish Club (TSC), an insurer headquartered in Sweden, provides insurance for vessels throughout the *7 world. TSC offers ship owners and operators three types of insurance to protect their interests in, and against potential liabilities on account of, their vessels: 1) protection and indemnity, such as against the risk of liability for a wide range of defined occurrences other than collision; 2) hull and machinery, such as first-party property damage and collision liability; 3) freight, defense and demurrage. TSC also promises to deliver those shipowners who insure with it a high level of insurance services, including response at the scene of any casualty, with TSC surveyors on hand to assist in the assessment of damage, and the preparation of specifications for repairs. TSC's internet site states that "[t]he Swedish Club's wealth of insurance, technical, and legal support is available on a round-the-clock basis, from the moment a member is involved in a casualty. Experienced specialists are dispatched to the scene."

As part of this worldwide insurance business, TSC has, as stated in its marketing materials on the internet site, established and maintained a worldwide "network of agents," including a system of correspondents throughout the United States, designed to respond in the event of a casualty anywhere in the world. This network includes technical, salvage, and legal correspondents in the three major Florida ports: Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami. In the Miami area is the Coral Gables office of Scandinavian Marine Claims Office, Inc. (SMCO), which investigated the casualty in this case.

Appellant Glovegold, a Maltese company with offices in Pireaus, Greece, owned the ANTHENOR EXPRESS, a Maltese-flag cargo vessel. Denholm Shipmanagement LTD, a Scottish company, managed the vessel. According to evidence submitted by Glovegold, the vessel plied a regular and continuous trade in and out of Florida ports, including Jacksonville, Miami, Port Everglades, and Tampa. Her historic trading pattern can be summarized as follows:

Aug. 89-Dec. 90: Miami—Cayman Islands
Jan. 91-Feb. 92: Tampa—Guatemala
Feb. 92-Jan. 94: Miami—Bahamas
Jan. 94-Feb. 96: Jacksonville or Port Everglades—Bahamas

During this time, various shipping organizations operating out of offices in Florida engaged the ANTHENOR EXPRESS on time-charters. During 1991 and 1992, the vessel was chartered to Tampa Bay Shipping of Florida. From 1993 through 1996, the vessel was chartered to Bahmar Agencies and SeaExpress, both managed from Miami. Danoff Inc., a Miami-based ship brokerage firm, brokered these charters.

Throughout this time, the vessel was regularly maintained, supplied and crewed in Florida, with repairs and periodic dry-dockings carried out at commercial facilities located either in Jacksonville, Miami, or Port Everglades. The offices of Bureau Veritas at Miami and Port Everglades carried out all classification surveys. Florida-based ship chandlers always provisioned the vessel in Florida ports (Miami, Jacksonville, Port Everglades). New and relieving crew members always boarded the vessel in Florida ports, and their contracts of employment were always signed upon their reporting on board.

Prior to the February 1996 casualty, the only litigation involving the ANTHENOR EXPRESS during this eight-year period was an action brought in the United States District Court, Tampa, Florida, in or about 1992, involving Tampa Bay Shipping of Florida and Apollo Stevedore Shipping, Inc. The Tampa office of Holland & Knight represented Glovegold in this earlier matter.

*8 B. THE INSURANCE POLICY

On July 31, 1995, TSC issued Glovegold a policy of hull and machinery (H & M) insurance for the period from July 31, 1995, to December 31, 1995. Lars Rhodin, the Director of the Hull Claims Department for TSC, stated by affidavit, "[t]here was no connection with the State of Florida or the United States of America in the placing or issuing of the insurance." The affidavit of George Zachariou, master of the ANTHENOR EXPRESS until July 31, 1995, however, affirmed that the vessel was berthed at Port Everglades, Florida on July 31, 1995, when the policy was issued. According to Glovegold, TSC, by addendum executed December 31, 1995, extended the coverage to December 31, 1996. Glovegold also submitted the affidavit of Konstantinos S. Kostopoulos, Glovegold's managing director. Kostopoulos explained the hand-written notes of Mr. Pokidis, a major Glovegold shareholder. These notes, a copy of which was attached to the Kostopoulos affidavits, reflected the deck log entries of the ANTHENOR EXPRESS, and they showed that the ANTHENOR EXPRESS was berthed in the Port of Miami on December 31, 1995, when the addendum was executed.

C. THE CLAIM

As mentioned at the outset, on February 5, 1996, while sailing in Florida waters en route to Jacksonville, the ANTHENOR EXPRESS, then about six miles south of the Jacksonville sea buoy, experienced catastrophic damage to the crankshaft of her main engine and extensive consequential damage. The failure left the vessel unable to proceed on her own power, necessitating her being towed by a Florida-based tug to North Florida Shipyards in Jacksonville. Glovegold alleges that its resulting loss was attributable to a peril insured by TSC's H & M insurance policy.

Glovegold notified TSC who directed SMCO to investigate. Based on the results of the SMCO investigation, TSC refused to cover the damage sustained by the ANTHENOR EXPRESS. The vessel remained in Jacksonville disabled and unable to sail. In October 1996, the Jacksonville shipyard and the towing company, along with various other creditors, caused the vessel to be arrested pursuant to an in rem proceeding in federal district court. See North Fla. Shipyards v. Glovegold Shipping, 96-105-Civ-J-10 (M.D.Fla. 1997). On September 23, 1997, the federal court ordered a judicial sale of the ANTHENOR EXPRESS.

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791 So. 2d 4, 2001 A.M.C. 2922, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 16966, 2000 WL 1880185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glovegold-shipping-ltd-v-sveriges-angfartygs-assurans-forening-fladistctapp-2000.