A federal judge in Miami refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by foreign nationals against a commercial general liability insurance carrier that insured a cargo barge and tugboat that was stranded in Cuba for nearly a year.

While on its way to deliver cargo from Fort Pierce to Gonaives, Haiti, the tugboat Billy G ran out of fuel near Cuba in June 2013. The Cuban coastguard towed the Billy G to Moa, Cuba, where the captain and five crew members – Eddie Bodden, Feliz Terrero, Francisco Ortega, Marcelino Susana, Victor Lacayo Lopez and Julio Bringuez  – were simply stuck, some with untreated injuries.