THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030469
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Moon Engineering Co. Inc. was trying to keep the project quiet, hoping for a publicity splash when it and its customer unveiled a high-speed passenger ferry.
But when the customer stopped paying for Moon's work on the four-hull vessel, the small Portsmouth shipyard drew attention to the project by turning to the courts.
Moon Engineering sued a company from the Bahamas in Norfolk Circuit Court several weeks ago, asking for nearly $1.4 million for work it has completed on the vessel. It also asked the court for ownership title to the vessel.
The suit alleges that the Bahamian company, Espirit Quadrimaran Ltd., had contracted with Moon in October 1994 to build the high-speed ferry as a demonstration model.
It was to be used as a prototype for subsequent so-called quadrimarans of the same design to be manufactured by Moon. The deal could -and still might - help lift Moon Engineering out of the feast-or-famine cycle of repairing ships for the Navy, the Maritime Administration and other federal agencies.
But Espirit paid Moon $237,500 for just over $1.6 million of work on the quadrimaran, the suit alleges.
``I'm hoping everybody will come back to the table and pay us the money due us and get the project moving again,'' said Jim Thomas, executive vice president and general manager of Moon Engineering. ``If not, we'll end up owning it, finishing it and selling it.''
There are two potential buyers interested in the 100-passenger vessel that can speed along at more than 60 nautical miles per hour, Thomas said. He declined to identify them.
Moon had been assembling the quadrimaran at its small riverfront facility at 545 Front St. in Norfolk. Moon stopped working on it Feb. 5. The project had been keeping about 35 of Moon's 220 employees busy, Thomas said.
The 75-foot-long vessel is 80 percent finished and would take six to eight weeks to complete, Thomas said.
Espirit ``got strapped for cash'' and wasn't able to pay Moon, Thomas said.
Charles Hamel, president of Espirit Quadrimaran, was unavailable for comment.
``It's essentially a problem internally with Espirit Quadrimaran,'' said Trond Conrade, a representative of Quadrimaran International, which owns the vessel design and is a partner in Espirit.
There is some disagreement about the objectives of Espirit, Conrade said. He hopes they'll be resolved soon.
``We would very much like to start construction in Portsmouth,'' he said. ``This design has great potential. It also has the potential to create a great number of jobs in Portsmouth.'' by CNB