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Gain Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Gain Contingencies

6. Gain contingencies:

The Partnership’s vessel activity in the Gulf of Mexico was severely impacted by the British Petroleum (“BP”) “Deep Water Horizon” oil spill of 2010 which severely adversely impacted charter activity in the Gulf region. BP established a program to compensate those businesses and individuals suffering economic hardship and loss as a result of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. The Partnership submitted a claim to the BP program administrator seeking an approximate $2.8 million for loss of revenues during the period of the vessel’s diminished activity commencing at the time of the oil spill and continuing through 2010. The BP claim administrator has denied the Partnership’s claim on the basis that the Partnership suffered damages as a result of the President’s moratorium on oil drilling subsequent to the Deep Water Horizon accident. The Partnership believes its claim continues to be of merit, and has opted out of the BP claims fund, and is pursuing a claim in a collective action with other similarly situated plaintiffs. Currently, the amount of any compensation or award from BP is extremely difficult to determine. As such, the potential for compensation or award has not been recorded on the Partnership’s books and records.

ATEL filed a claim on behalf of the Partnership and certain affiliated entities in Federal court in New Orleans for the under-reporting of revenue by a fleet manager of three marine vessels, seeking to recover an approximate amount of 10% of gross proceeds, which in the aggregate for all affiliated entities represents $2.8 million for the years 2005-2007 (of which the Partnership’s portion is an approximate $1.4 million). The annual allocable portion of the claim is not considered material to the Partnership in any given year. The trial date for this dispute had been rescheduled several times, however the trial was ultimately concluded during the first week of August 2012. As of October 10, 2012, the matter has been in the hands of the Federal Judge to render a decision on both the law and the facts. The decision of the Court is imminent, and the Partnership is hopeful for a recovery of all or portion of its asserted claims, but the outcome of the litigation remains uncertain as of such date. While the Partnership's recovery with respect to this matter may be significant, there is no assurance that judgment will be rendered in favor of the Partnership.