## Facts

- Nuovo Pignone, an Italian manufacturer, contracted with Fagioli, an Italian heavy-lift logistics company, to arrange ocean transport of a 771,000-kilogram ethylene oxide reactor from Italy to Louisiana (Geismar or New Orleans).
- The contract required a seaworthy vessel capable of entering the selected Louisiana port and equipped with appropriate autonomous hoisting and unloading gear (including ship’s cranes, shears, winches, and related lifting equipment) suitable for the cargo’s weight.
- Fagioli arranged carriage through booking agreements leading to the use of the M/V STORMAN ASIA.
- The reactor arrived at the Port of New Orleans but was damaged during unloading when a ship’s crane cable broke.
- Nuovo Pignone sued in the Eastern District of Louisiana asserting breach of contract and tort theories, alleging Fagioli failed to provide a vessel with proper crane and lifting equipment.
- Fagioli moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and insufficient service, arguing Nuovo Pignone’s service in Italy by mail was ineffective under the Hague Service Convention.
- The district court found specific personal jurisdiction over Fagioli and held Article 10(a) of the Hague Service Convention permitted service by mail; it denied the motion to dismiss.

## Issues

1. Whether Louisiana courts could exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Fagioli based on its contractual obligations tied to delivery and unloading in Louisiana and the alleged unloading-related damage.
2. Whether Article 10(a) of the Hague Service Convention authorizes service of process by mail on a defendant in a foreign country, making mailed service to Italy effective.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over Fagioli.
- The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s ruling on service, holding that Article 10(a) does not itself authorize service of process by mail.
- The case was remanded to allow Nuovo Pignone a reasonable time to effect service through proper Hague Convention methods.

## Legal Principles

- When a state long-arm statute extends to due process limits, the personal-jurisdiction inquiry turns on minimum contacts and whether exercising jurisdiction comports with traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
- Specific jurisdiction exists when the defendant purposefully directs activities toward the forum and the claims arise out of or relate to those forum-directed activities; contractual duties requiring performance in the forum can establish purposeful availment.
- A foreign logistics provider that contracts to deliver cargo to a specific forum port and to furnish equipment for unloading there can reasonably foresee being sued in that forum for damage occurring during the contemplated unloading operations.
- Under the Hague Service Convention, Article 10(a)’s reference to “send” judicial documents by postal channels does not itself create or authorize a method of “service of process” by mail.
- Proper international service must proceed through methods the Convention recognizes as service (including the central-authority mechanism), and a defective attempt at service should ordinarily be cured by allowing time for proper service rather than dismissing immediately.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that Louisiana could exercise specific jurisdiction over a foreign logistics contractor whose Louisiana-directed delivery and unloading obligations gave rise to the cargo-damage claims, but it required re-service because Article 10(a) of the Hague Service Convention does not independently authorize service of process by mail.


Nuovo Pignone, SpA v. M/V Storman Asia, 310 F.3d 374 (5th Cir. 2002)