The trustee placed a lien on behalf of InselAir on the fuel of an InterCaribbean aircraft at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) on Saturday, January 19. .Photo courtesy Antilliaans Dagblad.
PHILIPSBURG–The Court of First Instance in St. Maarten issued a judgment in the interim InterCaribbean Airways’ proceedings against InselAir International and its trustee Rogier van den Heuvel.
The Court decided that InselAir must cancel the seizure of fuel of one of InterCaribbean’s aircraft in St. Maarten as soon as InterCaribbean provides it with a bank guarantee of US $500,000.
InselAir’s trustee placed a lien on behalf of InselAir on the fuel of an InterCaribbean aircraft at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) on Saturday, January 19.
The removal of the lien must take place because InterCaribbean would suffer disproportionate damage as a result of this attachment, as it has cancelled all flights to St. Maarten as a result.
The bank guarantee must be provided because InterCaribbean has failed to comply with the judgment of the Court of First Instance in Curaçao of December 28, 2018, the Court said.
In the verdict it was stated that InterCaribbean must provide sufficient assurance of the court sanction of the creditors’ agreement. If it does not do so, the airline would forfeit a penalty of $500,000.
The Court considers it important that judgments are complied with, but said it understands that if the summary judgment of December 28, 2018, were annulled on appeal and InterCaribbean were found to be within its rights, it would not be likely that it could retrieve the penalty payment of $500,000.
InselAir’s claims for the acquisition of its shares and its demands for funds and aircraft were rejected, partly because these claims have already been rejected by the Court of First Instance in Curaçao, and judges cannot rule on the same claim twice.
The Court noted several new circumstances in this case, such as InterCaribbean’s pertinent refusal to do business with InselAir any longer because of the lien on its aircraft, but also because InselAir conditionally dissolved the Heads of Agreement (HOA).
The Court of First Instance also said it has not been able to determine whether in case InterCaribbean would provide security to enable a restart of InselAir, compliance by the two parties with the HOA is a foregone conclusion.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84858-inselair-must-lift-lien-on-intercaribbean-once-bank-guarantee-has-been-provided
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