European shipbuilder Fincantieri sued Owens Corning for fraud, accusing one of the largest global suppliers of fiberglass insulation of selling faulty fire-resisting panels, resulting in costly repairs and the delayed launch of at least two ships.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Ohio last month, Fincantieri claims Owens Corning concealed safety issues with its product and sold them despite knowing they were faulty. The Trieste, Italy-based shipbuilder said it had installed the defective panels on three cruise ships and eight military ships.
Once a recall announcement was issued for the panels, lawyers for the company say Fincantieri had to spend more than $100 million to investigate and repair the affected ships.
The lawsuit states that Owens Corning demonstrated “a malicious, reckless, and grossly negligent disregard for the safety of the affected products and of those persons whom the applicable safety requirements are designed to protect, with knowledge of and ignoring the risk of substantial and potentially catastrophic injury to what could be thousands of persons on any one of the vessels that incorporated the defective and non-compliant products.”
Owens Corning said in a statement that it was aware of the legal matter, but didn’t comment on pending litigation. The company has until Sept. 19 to file a response to the lawsuit.
A representative for Fincantieri declined to comment.
The product in question was marketed, packaged and sold in 2018 as a new line of “lighter weight, fire-safe marine insulation for use in steel decks and bulkheads,” the lawsuit states. The products were called “Navis” and included mats and slab products.
A product safety recall was issued in May of 2023, after it was determined that some of the products did not meet certain fire integrity certifications required for products used in key areas of ships’ bulkheads and steel decks.
The case is Fincantieri S.p.A vs. Owens Corning, 3:25-cv-01501, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo).
Top photo: Owens Corning Corp. EcoTouch brand insulation. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg.
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