Builder of $5.5-Million Boat Sues City for Pay

The builder of a problem-plagued $5.5-million oceanographic vessel for the city of Los Angeles has accused the city of breach of contract for withholding the final $205,000 construction payment on the custom-made boat.

In a lawsuit served this week, Knight and Carver Custom Yachts of San Diego claims the final payment on the 84-foot vessel, La Mer, was promised by the city when it agreed to take delivery of the boat last August.

The ocean-monitoring vessel, commissioned by the city’s Bureau of Sanitation, has never been in service despite five years and $5.5 million spent on its construction and design. The amount, more than three times the original estimated cost of La Mer, includes $3.9 million already paid to Knight and Carver and $1.2 million paid to Rados International Corp., a naval architectural firm owned by port Commissioner Robert Rados Sr.