COPENHAGEN: Iran says a court has ordered A.P. Moeller-Maersk to pay $3.6 million over a cargo spat, the Danish company pleas for the crew of the Maersk Tigris to be released. Danish shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk on Thursday urged Iran to release the crew of a chartered cargo vessel seized by Iran over a 10-year cargo dispute with an Iranian company.
The Danish company said it had been told by the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organisation at a meeting Wednesday that the seizure was linked to the loss of ten containers it had shipped to Dubai for an Iranian company in January 2005. “The containers were never collected by the consignee or any other party. After 90 days and in accordance with United Arab Emirates law, the cargo was disposed of by [the] authorities,” it said.
Several Iranian district courts had dismissed a $4.0 million (26.7 million kroner, 3.59 million euro) lawsuit by the Iranian company against Maersk over the lost cargo but in February the group had accepted an appeal court’s ruling to pay the firm $163,000. The group said it had been told at the Wednesday meeting that following another appeal it had been ordered to pay $3.6 million in compensation.
