Prometheus Maritime Investments, LLC v. S/Y Dreamer, a 1995 55’ Bruce Roberts Sailboat, former Official No. 1030661, in rem, and her owners, Fernando Villa and Zapallal Reforestation, Inc., in personam

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedDecember 31, 2025
Docket8:25-cv-00941
StatusUnknown

This text of Prometheus Maritime Investments, LLC v. S/Y Dreamer, a 1995 55’ Bruce Roberts Sailboat, former Official No. 1030661, in rem, and her owners, Fernando Villa and Zapallal Reforestation, Inc., in personam (Prometheus Maritime Investments, LLC v. S/Y Dreamer, a 1995 55’ Bruce Roberts Sailboat, former Official No. 1030661, in rem, and her owners, Fernando Villa and Zapallal Reforestation, Inc., in personam) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Prometheus Maritime Investments, LLC v. S/Y Dreamer, a 1995 55’ Bruce Roberts Sailboat, former Official No. 1030661, in rem, and her owners, Fernando Villa and Zapallal Reforestation, Inc., in personam, (M.D. Fla. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION

IN ADMIRALTY

PROMETHEUS MARITIME INVESTMENTS, LLC,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 8:25-cv-941-MSS-CPT

S/Y DREAMER, a 1995 55’ BRUCE ROBERTS SAILBOAT, former Official No. 1030661, in rem, and her owners, FERNANDO VILLA and ZAPALLAL REFORESTATION, INC., in personam,

Defendants. ___________________________________/

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Before me on referral is Plaintiff Prometheus Maritime Investments, LLC’s (Prometheus) renewed motion for the interlocutory sale of a 1995 55’ Bruce Roberts sailboat named “Dreamer” (the Vessel), which is owned by Defendants Zapallal Reforestation, Inc. (Zapallal) and its principal, Fernando Villa (Villa).1 (Doc. 33). For

1 Zapallal has never formally appeared in this action, and it is unclear whether it has even been served. If Zapallal has been served, it unclear why Prometheus has not moved for a clerk’s default against it. Prometheus should promptly address these issues. If and when Zapallal does appear in this action, as a corporation, it must be represented by counsel. See M.D. Fla. R. 2.02(b)(2) (“A party, other than a the reasons set forth below, I respectfully recommend that Prometheus’s motion be granted.2 I.

The following factual background is largely derived from the materials tendered by Prometheus in connection with its renewed motion, including a declaration executed by its in-house counsel, Robert George, who oversees the company’s maritime investments. (Doc. 53-1). In April 2024, Prometheus purchased a marina known as “Sailor’s Wharf” situated in St. Petersburg, Florida from the marina’s

owners, Sailor’s Wharf, Inc., and its principal, Jopie Helsen. Id. At the time of Prometheus’s purchase, there were several boats left at the marina, one of which was the Vessel. Id. Villa had been storing the Vessel in a slip at Sailor’s Wharf at a cost of approximately $680.50 per month. Id.

After Prometheus acquired the marina, Helsen remained onsite to wind down the operations of Sailor’s Wharf and to coordinate the disposition of the remaining boats on the property. Id. At the conclusion of this wind-down period in November 2024, the Vessel was the only boat still housed at the marina. Id.

natural person, can appear through [a] lawyer only.”). As for Villa, he has represented himself throughout this proceeding. 2 In light of the nature of Prometheus’s motion, I proceed by way of a report and recommendation rather than by way of an order. See IncredibleBank v. Provocative, 722 F. Supp. 3d 56, 59 (D.R.I. 2024) (noting that magistrate judges generally treat motions for interlocutory sale as dispositive motions) (citation omitted); Schoninger v. M/V Three Olives, 2010 WL 1935855, at *1 n.1 (D. Me. May 10, 2010) (same) (collecting cases). Helsen requested that Villa relocate the Vessel to another marina or furnish him with a clean title so that the Vessel could be either removed or sold. Id. Prometheus’s yard manager engaged in similar discussions with Villa in December 2024 and warned

him that the charge for storing the Vessel at the property would be increasing to $2,500 per month. Id. In February 2025, Villa acknowledged in writing that he agreed to the monthly wharfage rate of $2,500. Id. Villa, however, neither remitted this sum to Prometheus, nor transported the Vessel to a different location. Id.

Notwithstanding Villa’s lack of payment, Prometheus continued to provide maritime necessaries to the Vessel in the form of slip storage and related services.3 Id. As a result of doing so, Prometheus acquired a maritime lien on the Vessel. See (Doc. 33); see also 46 U.S.C. § 31341, et seq. In April 2025, Prometheus commenced this action by filing a complaint against

the Vessel in rem and against Villa and Zapallal in personam. (Doc. 1). In its complaint, Prometheus pleaded a breach of contract and an enforcement of its maritime lien based on the Defendants’ failure to compensate Prometheus for its storage costs. Id. Close in time to the filing of its complaint, Prometheus sought and obtained

both an arrest warrant and a substitute custodian—Dalton Peters from Prometheus—

3 The term “maritime necessaries” includes all goods or services that are “reasonably needed” to maintain the operability of a vessel. Moore v. M/V Sunny USA, 847 F. App’x 603, 607 (11th Cir. 2021) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). for the Vessel. (Docs. 2, 6, 9, 10). Later in April 2025, the United States Marshals arrested the Vessel and turned it over to Peters. (Doc. 15). In July 2025, Prometheus filed a motion seeking the interlocutory sale of the

Vessel pursuant to Rule E(9) of the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty and Asset Forfeiture Actions (Supplemental Rules). (Doc. 19). Prometheus also requested in its motion that it be permitted to “credit bid”4 for the Vessel at the time of the sale based on the maritime necessaries (namely, wharfage) it had supplied the Vessel. Id. at 2. The Court denied Prometheus’s motion in August 2025 as inadequately supported

after hearing argument on the matter from Prometheus and Villa. (Doc. 27). The instant motion followed. (Doc. 33). By way of that submission, Prometheus renews its request for an interlocutory sale of the Vessel pursuant to Supplemental Rule E(9) and for authorization to “credit bid” on the boat as well. Id.

In an effort to cure the infirmities with its previous motion, Prometheus includes declarations and exhibits with its filing that it maintains establish: (1) the Vessel is deteriorating and will continue to do so; (2) the expense of keeping the Vessel at

4 The phrase “credit bid” is a “colloquial term used to express a secured creditor’s right to bid at the sale of its collateral and then, at closing, [to] offset the purchase price by the value of its outstanding claim secured by the collateral being purchased.” In re RML Dev., Inc., 528 B.R. 150, 153–54 (Bankr. W.D. Tenn. 2014) ); see also SHM Loch Lomond, LLC v. That Certain 1947 Chris Craft Motor Yacht of Approximately 46-Feet in Length, 2024 WL 4627046, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 11, 2024) (stating that a credit bid allows a plaintiff foreclosing on a valid security interest in a vessel to bid “without payment of cash, certified check[,] or cashier’s check[ ] up to the total amount of the secured indebtedness”), report and recommendation adopted, 2024 WL 5391323 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2024); Gambol Indus., Inc. v. M/Y Heart’s Desire, 2023 WL 12166452, *1 n.3 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 4, 2023) (defining a credit bid as a “bid[ ] made by [a] creditor-beneficiary at a foreclosure sale for up to the total amount of the security indebtedness”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Prometheus’s marina is disproportionate to the Vessel’s value; and (3) Villa has unreasonably delayed the removal of the Vessel from Prometheus’s property. Id. Villa filed a belated response to Prometheus’s renewed motion in September 2025, in which

he disputed Prometheus’s assertions. (Doc. 39). At a subsequent oral argument on Prometheus’s renewed motion in October 2025 (Doc. 45), it was clear that Prometheus and Villa’s quarrel over the relevant facts could not be resolved without an evidentiary hearing. I therefore scheduled such a hearing in November 2025 and provided Prometheus and Villa with notice of same

well in advance. (Doc. 48). At the November 2025 evidentiary hearing, Prometheus appeared but Villa did not. (Doc. 51). In response to Villa’s non-appearance, I entered an Order instructing Villa to show cause in writing within twenty-one days why he failed to attend the hearing and why he should not be sanctioned for that failure. (Doc. 52). Villa did not

comply with this Order.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Prometheus Maritime Investments, LLC v. S/Y Dreamer, a 1995 55’ Bruce Roberts Sailboat, former Official No. 1030661, in rem, and her owners, Fernando Villa and Zapallal Reforestation, Inc., in personam, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prometheus-maritime-investments-llc-v-sy-dreamer-a-1995-55-bruce-flmd-2025.