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Mexican offshore services company Cotemar has launched an enforcement action in New York, seeking $59.4 million from ABSG Consulting, a U.S. government contractor and subsidiary of American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), after two court victories in Mexico, ordering ABSG to pay for work completed more than eight years ago.
Cotemar has filed an action in the Supreme Court of the State of New York to recognize a Mexican judgment ordering ABSG to pay $34.8 million, plus interest, for unpaid work. ABSG has refused to pay for more than eight years despite Mexican court orders to pay the amounts due. Cotemar is represented by Thomas C. White of Sullivan & Cromwell.
The New York action follows a March 2022 trial-court judgment and a June 2023 appellate ruling in Mexico affirming the judgment ordering ABSG to pay Cotemar for work that the trial court found had been completed in full and satisfactorily received by ABS’ subsidiary.
ABS’ subsidiary had retained Cotemar in September 2017 to provide logistical support, including personnel and equipment for the transportation and installation of a modular drilling rig on a platform in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Cotemar completed the work by March 2018, and the trial court found that ABSG had provided signed certificates confirming that the work was performed satisfactorily and in accordance with the contract. The U.S. contractor did not pay Cotemar, claiming it was holding talks with the prime contractor, Tamaulipas Modular Rig (TMR) , to obtain payment.
However, the Mexican courts found that TMR had already paid ABS’ subsidiary in full under the TMR-ABSG contract. The company proved the payments by producing bank transfer records in the Mexican legal proceedings.
After Cotemar sued ABSG in Mexico City in July 2018, the trial court ruled in Cotemar’s favor on March 30, 2022, finding that ABS’ subsidiary had satisfactorily received the work, TMR had paid the firm in full for the work covered by their agreement, and the U.S. company had acknowledged the debt.
On appeal, the Collegiate Appellate Court rejected ABSG’s grounds as “unfounded and inoperative” and affirmed the judgment in full in June 2023. The total amount now owed to Cotemar, including interest under Mexican and New York law, is $59.4 million.
Meanwhile, Cotemar recently announced the deployment of its two offshore vessels in the Campeche Sound, supporting strategic offshore construction, maintenance, and engineering projects in one of the Gulf of Mexico’s most important hydrocarbon-producing regions.