Lawsuit claims boat owners not liable for damage at Southport Marina following Hurricane Isaias

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — When Hurricane Isaias tore through Southeastern North Carolina in August 2020, one place that sustained a lot of damage is Southport Marina.

Following the storm, boats, docks and other pieces of equipment in the water were in piles, and some pieces of the docks were even blown onshore.

A federal lawsuit has been filed by boaters who were docked there during the storm after they were sent demand packages to pay for recovery. The lawsuit claims they are not liable.

The lawsuit claims the damage is the result of the marina’s failure to maintain the piers and docks and they were in poor condition at the time of Isaias.

“Because they were at or near the end of their service life, were poorly maintained, and had been allowed by the Marina’s piers and docks–and in particular, the pilings holding them in place–were no longer capable of withstanding the predictable and expected forces of a low-order Category One hurricane such as the Storm,” the lawsuit reads.

It includes three groups; those with an active slip rental agreement, those with an expired agreement, and those who never had an agreement. The lawsuit alleges the agreements do not make slip holders the property insurers, they are only responsible for the damage their individual vessels caused and the marina has not provided individual damage reports to the owners.

“Section V(d) of the Slip Rental Agreement provides that each Slip Holder shall ‘[m]ake arrangements for the safe mooring or removal of the Vessel on the approach of a storm
and be responsible for the costs to repair of any damage caused by the Vessel to the Marina docks, pilings and/or other boats,’” the lawsuit reads. “Nothing in the Slip Rental Agreement requires Slip Holders to remove their vessel from the Marina merely because a storm is approaching or expected to pass through the area.”

According to the lawsuit, the marina has not provided individual damage reports to vessel owners.

A representative for the marina, Robin Rose, shared the following statement.

“Our Marina was destroyed to the tune of $5+ million dollars because the boats were in the Marina. The Marina would have been OK if the boats had not been there. The forensic study proves that out.  Now that we have been sued, we look forward to the Court reviewing and analyzing the facts of this case and the law that applies.”

Additionally, Rose says the Marina voluntarily provided voluminous materials in response to requests for information.

“We can readily demonstrate that and look forward to doing so,” Rose wrote. “Any suggestion that we did not provide that information is just not so.”

To read the entire lawsuit, visit here.