City Sues Builder of Costly Oceanographic Vessel

The city of Los Angeles has sued the designer and builder of a $5.7-million oceanographic vessel that took five years to complete and only recently began environmental monitoring in Santa Monica Bay.

The lawsuit, filed last month in San Diego Superior Court, alleges negligence and breach of contract by the ship’s designer--Rados International Corp. of San Pedro--and its builder--Knight & Carver Custom Yachts of San Diego.

The Times reported in February that the 85-foot vessel, La Mer, had cost Los Angeles more than three times its original estimate of $1.5 million. The total cost included $1.2 million to Rados International--a company owned by then-Harbor Commissioner Robert Rados Sr. That amount alone exceeded the entire cost of new oceanographic vessels built for the county’s sanitation districts, the city of San Diego and the state Department of Fish and Game.