Gulf Oil Trading Co. v. The Caribe Mar

Gulf Oil Trading Co. (Gulf) (plaintiff) supplied fuel oil to vessels chartered by Uiterwyk Corp., including the Caribe Mar (defendant). The Caribe Mar was chartered by Uiterwyk from Fairplay Caribe, Ltd. The charter agreement between Uiterwyk and Fairplay Caribe for the Caribe Mar included a prohibition-of-lien clause that prohibited Uiterwyk from authorizing any liens to arise against the vessel. The sales contracts between Gulf and Uiterwyk for the fuel sales to the Caribe Mar, however, included a clause asserting a lien against the vessel for the purchase price of any fuel sold to the vessel. In December 1982, Gulf had a subcontractor deliver fuel that Uiterwyk had ordered to the Caribe Mar in Houston. The master of the Caribe Mar informed the subcontractor that there was a prohibition-of-liens clause in the vessel’s charter contract. The fuel delivery was completed, and Gulf was not informed of the prohibition-of-lien clause until two days after the delivery. Approximately one month later, Gulf again delivered fuel to the Caribe Mar in Ceuta, Morocco. Uiterwyk failed to pay for either the Houston or the Ceuta fuel delivery. Gulf brought an in rem proceeding to secure payment for the two fuel deliveries through a maritime lien on the Caribe Mar. The district court held that Gulf had a valid maritime lien for the Houston delivery but not for the Ceuta delivery, which occurred after Gulf had been informed of the prohibition-of-lien clause in the Caribe Mar charter contract. Gulf appealed.