the appeals court upheld the earlier decision. Other operational incidents of note include a 1988 fire during a return voyage from Iceland to the United States which forced the ship to stop in Newfoundland for repairs, and a crane breakdown on 15 November 1991 during cargo operations that required repairs be made in Praia da Vitória, Azores. Juno The ship's certificate of inspection was deactivated by the United States Coast Guard on 9 May 1994, rendering it unable to move. On 28 March 1996, the vessel had been sold to "owners in Jamaica" and the Coast Guard prevented the ship from receiving oil and proceeding from its berth until a valid certificate of financial responsibility could be provided. In late 1996, the ship was purchased by the company Noro of Haugesund, Norway under a 6,000,000 Norwegian krone (approximately $800,000 in 1998 U.S. dollars) mortgage by Sparebank 1 SR-Bank. On 31 December 1996, the new owner registered the ship under the Norwegian International Ship Register and wages for the journey to Norway were guaranteed by Sparebanken Rogaland. The ship was inspected in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 22 April 1997. On 30 June 1998 it was transferred to the Norwegian Ship Register. It was spotted by amateur enthusiasts in Haugesund on 26 October 1998. On 12 January 1999, the ship was renamed Juno. On 17 November 1999, the ship was declared free of financial encumbrances and sold to the American company TransAtlantic Lines. Geysir In 1997, Gudmundur Kjærnested decided to start a shipping company to serve the Iceland route. Then an Icelandic citizen, educated in the United States, and having worked at Van Ommeren shipping for seven years, he was familiar with the route and its history. Kjærnested's college roommate at Babson College, Brandon C. Rose, came from an affluent family whose yearly business revenues were estimated at $200 million per year. Rose offered to back the company, and together they started the two companies TransAtlantic Lines LLC and TransAtlantic Lines Iceland in February 1998. The two were originally even partners in both ventures. Shortly thereafter, they accepted an offer from shipping company American Automar to purchase 51% of the company, along with a never-exercised option to buy 51% of another Icelandic company largely owned by Kjærnested, Atlantsskip. The company made several preparations to bid for the Iceland contract. Rose secured a million-dollar letter of credit from the State Bank of Long