A refit of the yacht Anodyne, halted six years ago and remaining unfinished, has led to several lawsuits. One of them, between Derecktor Florida and the owner of Anodyne, regarding unpaid storage fees, was dismissed this summer. The two parties reached an agreement out of court. The terms remain undisclosed.
In 2014 Charles Scripps, an American, acquired the 98-foot (29.9-meter) yacht Boundless (below), built by Inace in 2010. He renamed her Anodyne. Scripps initiated a refit at Rolly Marine in Fort Lauderdale to upgrade systems and other aspects through his ownership company, M.V. Anodyne LLC. However, the shipyard uncovered structural defects and other issues. Therefore, Scripps had Anodyne transported to Derecktor Shipyards’ Dania Beach, Florida facility in 2016 for a rebuild and extension to 110 feet (33.5 meters). The reconstruction and extension were to improve buoyancy and amenities, with completion in 2017 at a cost of $25 million. The project was still unfinished when Scripps halted work in August 2019.
Anodyne has remained in an interior bay at Derecktor Florida’s shipyard ever since. The shipyard filed a lawsuit against the owner of Anodyne in March 2024. Specifically, Derecktor sought a maritime lien foreclosure, claiming agreed-upon monthly storage fees dating to June 2022 had gone unpaid. The shipyard additionally indicated in its filing that the owner “has been chronically past due on the amounts owed.” When the total reached $743,620.66, the lawsuit states, Derecktor notified M.V. Anodyne that it would terminate the agreement for non-payment. It further indicated it would seek action to recover the funds and remove the yacht at the owner’s cost. “The Owner has been unresponsive to communications, occasionally remitting payments toward the growing past-due amounts owed,” the lawsuit reads. “The Owner has also been unresponsive to Derecktor’s inquiries about when the Owner will remove the Vessel from Derecktor’s property.”
In May 2024, the judge set a date for a jury trial beginning in late June 2025, further requiring mediation. Although the two parties met with a mediator earlier this year, the mediator informed the court that no settlement occurred. This past June, the judge ordered the case closed, since Derecktor Florida and M.V. Anodyne had reached an agreement on their own.
We reached out to lawyers for both Derecktor Florida and M/V Anodyne for comment. Legal counsel for Derecktor Florida acknowledged the inquiry but couldn’t provide details. The lawyer for M/V Anodyne didn’t respond.
Separate older legal claims pertaining to the yacht’s reconstruction are still pending. The refit of Anodyne spurred a lawsuit and countersuit in late 2019 between a metal fabricator and the owner. A jury trial is set for early next year. Southern Yacht Industries sued M.V. Anodyne in October 2019 for alleged outstanding invoices of more than $1.8 million. M.V. Anodyne countersued the following month, alleging fraudulent and inflated invoices from the company, its owner Jerry Goss, and its project manager. According to the lawsuit, payments to Southern Yacht Industries exceeded $60 million.