## Facts

- Scheepvaart Maatschappij Suriname N.V. (SMS), a fleet operator, ran a container shipping service between Suriname, U.S. ports, and Rotterdam.
- Silver Star Enterprises, Inc. held two preferred ship mortgages on the M/V Saramacca.
- Trans Ocean Ltd. leased up to 122 cargo containers to SMS under a master lease with per diem rental and liability terms for repair, loss, or damage.
- The lease did not designate particular containers for particular vessels and allowed SMS to deploy containers across its fleet and in intermodal transport.
- Silver Star filed an in rem action to enforce its ship mortgages against the M/V Saramacca.
- Trans Ocean asserted a maritime lien against the vessel, claiming its leased containers used aboard the Saramacca were “necessaries” under the Federal Maritime Lien Act (FMLA).
- The vessel was seized and sold; proceeds were deposited with the district court for distribution among claimants.
- Trans Ocean used discovery materials (including cargo documents) to trace container use and sought summary judgment recognizing its lien.

## Issues

1. Whether the FMLA grants a maritime lien to a container lessor when containers are supplied under a bulk, fleetwide lease to a shipping company rather than furnished “to a vessel.”
2. Whether “free-roaming” containers that are not vessel-designated can satisfy the statutory requirement that necessaries be furnished to a particular vessel to support an in rem lien.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s summary judgment recognizing Trans Ocean’s maritime lien.
- The court held the FMLA does not extend to bulk container leases made to an entity other than a specific vessel when the lease lacks vessel-specific supply terms.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the ruling, leaving Silver Star’s preferred ship mortgages undiluted by Trans Ocean’s asserted lien.

## Legal Principles

- A maritime lien under the FMLA requires that “necessaries” be furnished to a vessel upon the order of the owner or an authorized person; supplying goods or services to a corporate fleet operator, without vessel-specific furnishing, is generally insufficient.
- Bulk leasing of fungible, interchangeably used containers that circulate among multiple vessels and may be used in land or air transport lacks the required nexus between the furnished item and a particular vessel.
- Courts may reject lien theories that depend on retrospective tracing of equipment among voyages and vessels when the commercial arrangement intentionally permits free circulation and non-vessel use.
- Recognizing fleetwide container-lease liens risks destabilizing predictable priority expectations of recorded secured interests, including preferred ship mortgages.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit refused to recognize a maritime lien for a bulk, fleetwide container lease because the statute requires necessaries to be furnished to a specific vessel; absent vessel-specific furnishing, the container lessor’s claim could not attach in rem to the M/V Saramacca.


Silver Star Enters., Inc. v. M/V Saramacca, 82 F.3d 666 (5th Cir. 1996)