Kuhl

District Court, S.D. Florida·Decided March 29, 2022·No. 0:21-cv-60408·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 21-cv-60408-BLOOM/Valle

REICHEN KUHL, as owner of the 2002 28-foot Four Winns 280 Horizon motorboat, HIN GFNCE005F102,

Petitioner.

_______________________________________/

OMNIBUS ORDER ON REICHEN KUHL’S AND SUNTEX MARINA INVESTORS LLC’S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon the Motions for Summary Judgment filed by Limitation Petitioner Reichen Kuhl (“Kuhl”), ECF No. [148], and Defendants Suntex Marina Investors, LLC and Rahn Marina, LLC, Bahia Mar SMI OPCO Series (collectively, “Suntex”), ECF No. [151], (collectively, “Motions”). The Court has carefully reviewed the Motions, all opposing and supporting memoranda, ECF Nos [160], [162], [168], [169], the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. For the reasons that follow, the Motions are denied. I. BACKGROUND This case arises due to a January 2021 fire that broke aboard Kuhl’s motorboat (the “Limitation Vessel”) after docking at Bahia Mar Marina for fueling. Suntex is the owner of Bahia Mar Marina. When in flames, the Limitation Vessel drifted into the M/Y W, a 189’ Feadship vessel owned by Claimant Seven LXXVII, LLC (“Seven”). The W spent weeks in a repair yard, which Seven claims resulted in lost charter income of between $1.2 million and $2 million. On February 22, 2021, Kuhl, as title owner of the Limitation Vessel, initiated this action for exoneration from or for limitation of liability pursuant to 46 U.S.C. §§ 30501, et seq., Supplemental Rule F, and Local Supplemental Rule F for all claims arising out of the fire incident. ECF No. [1]. Seven filed a counterclaim against Kuhl, ECF No. [27], and a third-party claim against Suntex, ECF No. [45], seeking compensation for physical damages to the W and lost charter income. However, because an insurance company paid for the physical damage to the W, Seven is seeking damages in this case only for lost charter income. ECF No. [147] ¶¶ 41–42.

The only issue on the parties’ Motions for Summary Judgment is whether there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Seven suffered lost charter income. II. MATERIAL FACTS Based on the parties’ respective statements of material facts in support of and in opposition to the Motions and the evidence in the record, the following facts are not genuinely in dispute unless otherwise noted.1 Seven owns the W, a 189’ Feadship. ECF No. [147] ¶ 5. Seven has one member, David MacNeil. Id. ¶ 6. The W is a private, pleasure yacht, flagged in the United States and registered with the United States Coast Guard as a recreational vessel. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 8, [151] at 3 ¶ 3.

Seven purchased the W in July 2019. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 7, [151] at 3 ¶ 1. After the purchase, the W underwent a retrofit, which was completed around September 2020. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 10, [151] at 3 ¶ 2. On July 1, 2020, Seven entered into a Charter Agency Agreement with Northrop &

1 Kuhl filed a Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. [147]; Seven filed a Counter Statement of Material Facts in Opposition, along with additional facts, ECF No. [159]; and Kuhl filed a Reply Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. [167]. Suntex did not file a separate statement of material facts, but incorporated a statement within its Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. [151] at 3–4, in violation of Southern District of Florida Local Rule 56.1(a)(1). Seven filed a Counter Statement of Material Facts in Opposition. ECF No. [161]. Suntex then filed a Statement of Facts in Opposition to Seven’s Counter Statement. ECF No. [170]. Suntex’s Reply Statement contained additional facts, which the Local Rules do not contemplate. See S.D. Fla. L.R. 56.1(b)(3). Moreover, in its Reply memorandum of law, Suntex contradictorily states that it “elects not to challenge, argue-against [sic] or dispute [Seven’s] supposed Material Facts in this Reply.” ECF No. [169]. At bottom, however, disputed issues of fact preclude summary judgment. Johnson. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 11, [151] at 3 ¶ 4. The W’s charters are managed by Adam Fitzmaurice, the Senior Charter Manager for Northrop & Johnson. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 14, [159] ¶ 52, [161] ¶ 17. Fitzmaurice was designated as Seven’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness on the issue of damages and disclosed by Seven as its expert witness. ECF No. [147] ¶¶ 15–16. Fitzmaurice has more than twenty years of experience in the yachting industry, both as crew and in charter management, and

he has been involved in the charter of luxury yachts since January 2015. ECF Nos. [159] ¶ 52, [161] ¶ 17. Fitzmaurice also worked as charter manager for two other Westport Motor Yachts beneficially owned by MacNeil. ECF No. [159] ¶ 58. Fitzmaurice stated that, in the yachting industry, the “summer” season runs from May through October and the “winter” season runs from November through April. ECF No. [147] ¶ 18. The summer season in the Caribbean and Florida has no high and low seasons, and the “high winter” season consists of the two weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Id. ¶¶ 19– 20. On September 28, 2020, Northrop and Johnson issued a press release regarding the W being

available for charter in the Bahamas, Caribbean, Florida, and New England in the summer with charters starting at $400,000.00. ECF Nos. [159] ¶ 49. Northrop & Johnson marketed the W for charters in the fall and winter of 2020. ECF No. [147] ¶ 13. The W was available to charter in the Caribbean and Florida in the winter of 2020–2021. Id. ¶ 17. On December 20, 2020, the W departed Bahia Mar Marina and traveled to the Caribbean, where MacNeil and his family spent the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 22, [151] at 3 ¶ 8. Northrop & Johnson, through Fitzmaurice, presented MacNeil with two charter offers for the 2020–2021 holiday season, both of which MacNeil declined. ECF No. [147] ¶ 23. The W was not chartered during the 2020 holidays because MacNeil was using the W with his family, and there was no time to pick up a charterer who had inquired about using the W at that time. ECF No. [159] ¶ 51. On January 6, 2021, Fitzmaurice suggested adjusting the low season charter hire rate of the W to $355,000.00 per week. ECF No. [147] ¶ 24. In early January 2021, the published charter rate for the W was $355,000.00 per week. Id. ¶ 46. After the holidays, the W returned to the Bahia Mar

Marina, arriving on January 12, 2021. Id. ¶ 25. From the date of its purchase through the date of the fire on January 17, 2021, the W had not been chartered and had no charter bookings. ECF Nos. [147] ¶¶ 27, 38, [151] at 3 ¶¶ 5, 7, 10. On January 17, 2021, Kuhl took the Limitation Vessel out on the water for the first time, traveling from his residence to the fuel dock at the Bahia Mar Marina. ECF No. [147] ¶ 2. The Limitation Vessel caught fire after fueling, became fully engulfed, burned through her mooring line, and drifted down the dock and under the hull of the W. Id. ¶¶ 3–4. A few days after the fire, the W was taken to Rybovich boatyard for repairs. ECF Nos. [147] ¶ 28, [151] at 3 ¶ 11. The W returned to Bahia Mar on March 19, 2021. ECF No. [147] ¶ 29. The W was unavailable to charter

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