St. John’s, NL, Canada, May 12, 2005
Nautical Data International Inc. ("NDI") is pleased to announce that the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has concluded that its February 10, 2005 Order is continued in accordance with its terms as amended. The Order restrains the Canadian Hydrographic Services – Department of Fisheries and Oceans (“CHS”) from breaching and/or terminating its contract with Nautical Data International, Inc. (the “CHS Contract”.) The Court has also declared that (i) CHS has not terminated the CHS Contract in accordance with its terms, (ii) the CHS Termination Letter dated January 4, 2005 is “nothing more than an ineffective unilateral repudiation of the CHS Contract by CHS”; and (iii) CHS has no right to terminate the CHS Contract as they purported to do under the Termination Letter.
The Judgment came on May 10, 2005 as a result of the Court hearing and deliberations on April 12-13, 2005 of the motion brought by CHS on February 21, 2005 to set aside or vary the February 10, 2005 Order of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and the counter motion brought by NDI on April 5, 2005 seeking, among other things, a declaration that the purported termination of the CHS Contract by CHS is of no force and effect.
Background
NDI has an ongoing contract with CHS (the “CHS Contract”). The CHS Contract gives NDI the sole worldwide right and license to use, and sublicense the use of, any data owned by Canada and maintained by CHS to produce data products and product updates, to integrate such products with other products and services and to distribute them directly to NDI’s customers or through third party distributors and value added resellers.
In the Termination Letter dated January 4, 2005, CHS purported to terminate the CHS Contract effective February 4, 2005. NDI has not accepted the termination, and strongly believes that CHS had no basis to do so. As a result of the actions of CHS, on February 2, 2005, NDI filed a Notice of Intention to make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. On February 10, 2005, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador granted an Order restraining CHS from breaching and/or terminating the CHS Contract.
The Company
NDI is the sole worldwide distributor of the official Canadian electronic navigation charts and other digital nautical information. A privately held Canadian company based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, NDI distributes its digital data products including the CHS certified digital charts under the brand DigitalOcean® for recreational boating, sports fishing, and commercial navigation purposes as well as for other non-navigation applications. In partnership with CHS since 1993, NDI has successfully developed a comprehensive digital cartography database comprised of thousands of nautical charts and other marine information covering navigable Canadian waters and coastal zones.
In the years since 1993, NDI has worked with CHS to develop, commercialize, and promote several digital hydrographic products for navigation and other uses, including raster charts for recreational boaters and vector charts for commercial shipping, and chart updating services for all market segments. These products and services are delivered in an open, transparent, and uniform manner in keeping with the mandate of CHS to serve the public good.
NDI has invested substantially in the development and commercialization of data products and services, and in creating the necessary information infrastructure and distribution network. NDI’s distribution network consists of more than 75 dealers and value-added resellers, that spans across the country and abroad.
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DigitalOcean® is a Registered Trademark of Nautical Data International, Inc.
DigitalOcean® is a Registered Trademark of Nautical Data
International, Inc.
