A mechanical issue has sidelined the state ferry LeConte today, cancelling its scheduled roundtrip sailing from Juneau to Haines.
The Alaska Marine Highway System has technicians on board investigating the issue. In the meantime, passengers are being rebooked for later trips.
The state’s lawsuit against builders of the fast ferries has been shelved indefinitely.
Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg declared Thursday that “proceedings in this case will cease.” That was after he had a chance to research the law behind a motion to move the case out of state court and into federal bankruptcy court. However, the motion was not filed by the company currently in bankruptcy proceedings. Instead, it was filed by the remaining co-defendant in the state’s lawsuit over allegedly defective engines.
If the case is ever remanded back to state court, Judge Pallenberg says only then will he consider if he’ll sanction MTU Friedrichshafen and MTU Detroit Diesel for potential impropriety, or use of the motion as a delaying tactic.
Attorneys for the State and Alaska Marine Highway System got blindsided by a motion to remove the case out of state court. A hearing had been planned for Wednesday to compel MTU to provide witnesses for depositions.
The Alaska Marine Highway System believes that the engines for the fast ferries Fairweather and Chenega are defective. The vessel’s builders, Derecktor Shipyard of Connecticut, dropped out of the case when the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January.
The state’s lawsuit against builders of the fast ferries took another unexpected turn on Wednesday.
The German-builder of the ferry’s engines submitted a last-minute motion to remove the entire case to federal bankruptcy court. That would effectively take the entire lawsuit, at least temporarily, out of the hands of state Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg.
The Alaska Marine Highway System believes that the engines for the fast ferries Fairweather and Chenega are defective. But the vessel’s builders, Derecktor Shipyard of Connecticut, filed for bankruptcy protection in January. For now, they are not a defendant in the state’s lawsuit. But the case can still proceed against the German company that built the ferries’ engines, MTU Friedrichshafen, and the U.S. company that has done maintenance, MTU Detroit Diesel.
Attorneys for the state and ferry system were not happy about the surprise filing. Judge Pallenberg even considered that such a motion by a non-debtor could constitute a willful violation of the automatic stay in the state case.
Wednesday afternoon’s hearing was originally planned to compel engine builder MTU to produce witnesses for planned depositions for an upcoming trial. State attorneys believe that MTU is purposely hindering the pre-trial process by releasing witnesses or making them unavailable. MTU says that’s not the case.
All the parties hope to review the law before the hearing is continued on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Judge Pallenberg warned MTU to “release witnesses (from depositions) at its own peril.”
There’s one less defendant in the state’s lawsuit against builders of the fast ferries.
Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg says he received notice of a bankruptcy filing by Derecktor Shipyards of Connecticut. That means the state’s case against them is put on hold indefinitely. But the case against the builders of the engines for the vessels is still expected to go to trial in September. Derecktor employees can testify as witnesses, but they are no longer defendants. At least for now.
The sudden turn of events seemed to catch all the attorneys off-guard during a Monday hearing in Juneau Superior Court. Even Judge Pallenberg admitted, that in this circumstance with multiple defendants in a civil suit, he had not encountered it before.
MTU Friedrichshafen and MTU Detroit Diesel, German builders of the engines and American company that did the engine repairs for the fast vehicle ferries Chenega and Fairweather, abruptly cancelled depositions in the case that were scheduled to start this week. Attorney Jon Dawson said they needed to get a handle on “where they were in the process.” Attorneys Dana Burke and Micheal Lessmeier, representing the State and the Alaska Marine Highway System, were worried that the stay would become a mechanism for other parties to to be uncooperative in the discovery process and delay a trial. Dawson said he took umbrage at that, and said that they were being cooperative.
Adding to the complications, Derecktor’s legal representative in Alaska, retired Superior Court Judge Douglas Serdahaly, who is a lawyer experienced in other maritime and fishing cases, abruptly pulled out last week. The motion to withdraw was filed under seal known only to Judge Pallenberg. It was open to speculation that it was because of either some unknown conflict by Serdahaly or the developing bankruptcy. The lack of Alaska representation may hobble Derecktor’s efforts to defend their interests should they emerge from bankruptcy.
Multiple media outlets (one noted here) in the Northeast have reported on last month’s bankruptcy filing for Derecktor’s Bridgeport, Connecticut operation. A weak economy and lack of funds is blamed. Liabilities may range from $1 million to $10 million with the shipyard landlord second on the creditor list. Bridgeport Port Authority says it’s owed $387,000. Derecktor had just emerged from a 2008 bankruptcy about five months ago.
In a hearing in Juneau Superior Court last October that played out much like a naval skirmish, all the parties in the fast ferry case argued over interpretations of warranty and liability law, whether the engines were defective at the start, and whether the builders already knew that. An opinion has yet to be issued from that hearing. But because the State’s claims against Derecktor are intertwined with those filed against MTU, it’s unclear if that opinion will now ever be signed and issued.
The state essentially alleges the engines were not up to the task and the manufacturers tried to hide that fact. In filings made in November, state attorneys say the original design and construction contract specified a hundred-thousand hours for the high-performance diesel engines to power the high-speed catamarans. That comes out to about 25 years at about 4,000 hours a year. According to court documents, the State and Alaska Marine Highway System say that the hundred-thousand hour, 25-year specification was later deleted from the subsequent purchase order contract by Derecktor and MTU, and that both companies denied any obligation for a 25-year service life. The state is trying to add new charges including tortious abetment and breach of implied warranty.
The next hearing in the case is set for April 24th.
Silver Bow Construction is rebuilding the old trestle bridge and has been allowing walkers and bicyclists access during the noon hour. The bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since October 1st. Beginning Thursday (Feb. 9) until April 15, it will be closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The workers need that extra hour of work time with the short daylight of time that we have,” says Project Manager Larry Gamez.
The Perseverance Trail system will be accessible from the end of Evergreen Avenue via the flume trail.
Gamez says structural concrete work on the bridge is done, columns have been repaired and replaced, galvanized steel brackets and angle irons are in, and a lot of old wood has been pulled out and replaced. He says whatever work is not complete by April 15th will be finished next fall after the summer tourist season is over. Basin Road is access to the Last Chance Mining Museum and popular hiking trails.
The original Basin Road Trestle was built in 1936 while the AJ Mine was in operation. It has been rebuilt a number of times since.
February 3, 2012 8:50 am update
Thane Road is now open to traffic. But the avalanche that covered the roadway Wednesday night wasn’t the only slide in the Juneau area.
There are at least fifteen identified or named slide paths on Mount Juneau and nineteen different slide paths on Mount Roberts. CBJ avalanche specialist and emergency services manager Tom Mattice says many of them had some sort of a release on Wednesday and Thursday.
“I can tell you White slid, part of Bartlett slid, Greenhouse slid, Behrends slid, Bathe Creek slid, a little piece of Sunshine Gully slid,” recalls Mattice. “So, a whole bunch.”
Urban avalanche advisory for Friday morning lists the current danger as ‘High.’
CBJ Urban Avalanche Advisory page
February 2, 2012 3:12 pm
State Department of Transportation road crews cleared the snow Thursday afternoon from the avalanche that occurred off of Mount Roberts.
Both lanes of Thane Road are now open to traffic.
Greg Patz, maintenence superintendent for the Southeast region, declared the road reopened about 3 o’clock Thursday afternoon. He said it only took 3 1/2 hours to clear out the roadway.
They conducted avalanche control with artillery rounds fired from across the channel before allowing equipment and workers into the avalanche zone.
Patz had earlier estimated that it would be reopened about 6 p.m.
