A legal dispute which has left a cruise boat abandoned and decaying in an island harbour for the past ten years has made some headway. The MV Monaco is a target for thieves and has not moved from the quayside in Stornoway with lawyers and QCs bitterly arguing about the vessel in successive court fights since 2002.
Now the Court of Session has found that Murdo Macdonald of Erista, Uig, Lewis, was wrongly sold a defective boat and is entitled to get his £75,000 back from Robert and Elizabeth Pollock.
Mr Macdonald was assured the engine was in good condition when he purchased the converted fishing boat. But, on the voyage north to the Outer Hebrides, and after handing over the money, he discovered it was heavily leaking oil.
The row which has been caught in the doldrums of successive court actions for the past decade began when Murdo Macdonald spotted the Monaco advertised in a yachting magazine in August 2002.
According to court findings, Mr Macdonald wanted the boat for his own cruise boat business in the Outer Hebrides and commissioned a general survey of the boat which was lying at Corpach, near Fort William. The surveyor assured him she was in good shape. However, neither a sea trial nor detailed examination of the engine was carried out.
Boat rots in harbour during ten year legal battle 20/2/12
MV Monaco has been abandoned in Stornoway harbour
Court papers say Mr Pollock, who operated a similar live-
Mr Macdonald personally undertook a 30 minute sea trial as well as a superficial visual inspection of the outer casings of the engine above the engine room deck.
He set sail from Oban harbour on 21 September 2002, setting course to Stornoway. After an overnight stay in Tobermory it became obvious the engine was losing excessive oil and needed to be topped up twice.
An engineer was summoned to the boat when she called in at Scalpay, Harris, and a leak from a weld joint was discovered below the floor plates. More lubricating oil was poured into the engine and she chugged north at slow speed into Stornoway where another examination discovered oil was also coming out of several engine securing bolts.
Mr Macdonald telephoned Mr Pollock cancelling the deal. Mr Macdonald’s lawyer blundered by initially seeking the cost of repairs rather than getting the payment price returned, though that was altered when the case came to court.
But the Court of Session found that the wider picture of Mr Macdonald refusing to have anything practical to do with the boat indicated he was rejecting ownership.
The original court case at Oban Sheriff Court had found in Mr Macdonald’s favour but was overturned after the Pollocks appealed.
Mr Macdonald has now successfully challenged that appeal outcome. Scotland’s highest civil court found that the Mr and Mrs Pollock sold the Monaco "in the course of a business" so the Sale of Goods Act applied and they were obliged to ensure the vessel was of satisfactory quality.
It also rejected the view that oil leaks could have been detected if the surveyor had carried out a full examination of the engine. The Pollocks have the right to appeal against the court judgement.
Thieves and vandals have targetted the vessel