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Houston-based bunker supplier Sun Coast Resources has filed a lawsuit against leading global bulk carrier operator Clipper Bulk following non-payment for 'off-spec' fuel which was said to be later sold on to a third party.

In its complaint, filed on April 13th in Jefferson County District Court, Sun Coast says it sold defendant Clipper Bulk 100 metric tonnes of marine gas oil (MGO) in the first week of September 2010. The distillate-grade fuel was delivered to oceangoing bulk carrier, the M/V Chios Voyager, at the Port of Beaumont, Texas.

The vessel departed from Beaumont on September 2nd, but it was not until a week later that Clipper Bulk is said to have tested the marine gas oil and found that the product was off-specification.

"On September 14, 2010, nearly two weeks later, and when it was too late for Sun Coast to assist Clipper Bulk in removing the cargo, Clipper Bulk elected to reject the MGO alleging that it was off-specification," the suit states.

"By this time, the vessel was in the Caribbean Ocean," the complaint adds.

It is claimed that when the M/V Chios Voyager arrived in Port Lisas, Trinidad, Clipper Bulk sold the MGO cargo for $17,940, but Sun Coast says it has still not received payment for the fuel it delivered.

In its complaint, Sun Coast alleges breach of contract and conversion against the defendants. The Houston firm is seeking actual damages of $74,155.08, plus punitive damages, interest and other relief the court deems just.

The case has been assigned to Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court, Jefferson County, Texas.