Two widows who lost their husbands on the doomed Leader L freighter last year suffered a setback in a Bermuda court in their efforts to sue the ship's owners.

The women's husbands died when the Panama-registered freighter sank 400 miles off Bermuda last March. They have joined with one surviving crew member to sue the two shipping companies involved. All three plaintiffs are Romanian nationals.

Eighteen of the 31 crew members aboard the Leader L were killed on March 23, 2000, when the 770-foot salt carrier went down in 5,000 feet of water. The ship sank in less than a minute.

Survivors and bodies of the dead were transported to Bermuda by the Canadian naval vessel which attended the tragedy.

The Bermuda Industrial Union then negotiated a settlement with the shipping companies on behalf of 12 Filipino seamen who survived. However, one survivor and two widows elected to sue the ship's owners.

The Romanian widows -- Mihaela Olteanu and Mihaela-Elena Vartic -- are seeking damages in the deaths of their husbands while Mihai Dragoi is seeking damages related to personal injuries he sustained. All three are represented by Andrew Martin of Mello, Jones and Martin.

The plaintiffs had sought to block the consideration of a legal application by Leader L owners Leoninus Shipping and Cavo D'Oro Shipping which argues Bermuda lacks jurisdiction over the shipping companies and is not the best forum for civil proceedings against them.

Lawyers for the Romanians argued that the defence application was not filed within the 28-day time period allowed in response to the original writ.

The shipping companies, who are represented by Kelvin Hastings-Smith of Appleby, Spurling and Kempe, argued the submission had been made within the time limit.

However, Puisne Judge Norma Wade Miller said in her judgment that as the Writ of Summons filed on behalf of the Romanians was filed on April 20, 2000, the 28-day period allowed for the defence to file an application started the next day and ran through the end of business on May 18, 2000.

The application by the defence protesting Bermuda's jurisdiction was received in the Supreme Court registry at 4.36 p.m. on that day.

Lawyers for the Leader L casualties also argued that while application was received in the registry offices on that day, it was not signed by the Registrar until May 22, 2000 and that signature should mark official custody.

Justice Wade Miller rejected that argument as well in her judgment. "It is nigh impossible for a Registrar to sign each document on the particular day it is lodged,'' she wrote.

"The more desirable approach is to treat a document as issued once it passes into official custody. Given this reasoning the Defendants' summons was issued on the 18th May when it passed into the official custody of the Registrar.'' Defence lawyer Kelvin Hastings-Smith said that the next stage in the proceedings will be for the court to consider whether the matter should be heard in Bermuda as the plaintiffs contend whether the Island lacks jurisdiction.

This matter will be considered in upcoming months, he said.