Minerva Marine Inc. v. O.W. Bunker Malta Limited

Background

The plaintiffs are Minerva Marine Inc., individually and on behalf of M/V Minerva Vera. The defendants are O.W. Bunker Malta Limited, Seka S.A., and ING Bank N.V. On February 5, 2021, the parties informed the court that they had reached a settlement in principle.

Order

The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It ordered that the action would be dismissed with prejudice on April 9, 2021, unless, before that date, one or more parties filed a letter asking the court not to dismiss the action and explaining why dismissal should not occur in light of the settlement. The order stated that a request filed on or after April 9 could be denied solely because it was late.

If the parties wanted the court to retain jurisdiction—that is, continuing authority—to enforce their settlement agreement, they had to submit the agreement under the court’s Individual Practices and request an order expressly retaining that jurisdiction by April 2, 2021. Upon dismissal, the court would direct the clerk to disburse the deposited amount plus interest. By April 9, the parties had to jointly inform the court of the amount to be paid to each party and identify the check payees and mailing addresses.

Disposition

This was an order managing the case after the reported settlement and setting a conditional future dismissal. It did not decide the underlying claims. The court’s order was entered by Judge Valerie Caproni.