Opinion ID: 77477
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Maritime Lien

Text: 29 A party is entitled to a maritime lien under CIMLA if it provided necessaries to a vessel on the order of the owner or a person authorized by the owner. 46 U.S.C. § 31342. The Banks do not contest that the items and services supplied to the Vessel by Zernavi constituted necessaries, nor that Zernavi provided the necessaries to the Vessel with the authorization from the owner. Accordingly, it is undisputed that Zernavi holds a valid maritime lien for necessaries. What the Banks contest, however, is whether Zernavi's maritime lien is superior in priority to the Banks' preferred ship mortgage. CIMLA provides that a preferred mortgage lien on a foreign vessel (which has not been otherwise guaranteed by statute) is subordinate to a maritime lien for necessaries provided in the United States.  46 U.S.C. § 31326(b)(2) (emphasis added). The Banks argue that because some of Zernavi's activities relating to supplying the Vessel were orchestrated in Italy, the necessaries were not provided in the United States. The statute does not require that the party asserting the maritime lien be a United States entity, nor that all of the activities related to the provision of necessaries take place inside the United States; all that is required is that the necessaries be provided to the Vessel in the United States. See id. Zernavi loaded goods onto the Vessel and provided services to the Vessel while it was in a United States port. That is all that the statute requires. Accordingly, we conclude that the Banks' preferred ship mortgage is subordinate to Zernavi's maritime lien for necessaries.