The former chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line is suing billionaire Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group, claiming that Virgin essentially stole his ideas and business plans to enter the lucrative luxury cruise industry by building a pair of state-of-the-art ships capable of carrying 4,200 passengers each.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in Miami federal court on behalf of Colin Veitch and his VSM Development company, seeks more than $300 million in damages and asks a judge to stop London-based Virgin from going forward with its recently announced cruise line.

Veitch’s lawyer, Jeff Gutchess of the Bilzin Sumberg firm, said in an interview that Virgin wholeheartedly embraced his ideas in early 2011 and then abruptly did an about-face by forcing a costly renegotiation of their partnership terms.

Virgin in December announced the formation of Virgin Cruises, which intends to sail out of Miami. It’s one of the newest of Sir Richard’s numerous business ventures, which include airlines, the Virgin Galactic spacecraft, a music label, book publishing, a travel agency, hotels and mobile phone services.

According to the lawsuit, the plan was initially brought to Virgin by Veitch, who after analysing the cruise industry concluded that a well-known brand such as Virgin could break into the business profitably by building a pair of so-called ‘ultra’ ships. These vessels, such as Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas ship, feature a wide array of on-board attractions and command premium prices.

The May 2011 agreement between Virgin and Veitch estimated that Virgin could make $427-$483 million profits over 10 years if the venture performed as planned. Under this deal, Veitch would get nothing if the ships were not profitable but stood to make $315 million if his projections were met.