KARACHI: Shipping Watch reports that Maersk ship is recently arrested in Tunisia by displeased Honam customers who were demanding their lost money due to negligence of the shipping line. Experts say that their displeased customers across the globe may take a cue from this incidence due to criminal activities of Maersk and QICT/DP World. Maersk Line recently changed its ownership structure in Tunisia because it became difficult for the company to operate in the country. QICT/DP World staff are also in limelight for their alleged role in the Rs. 15 billion demurrage and detention mega scam where they may be arrested by authorities of Pakistan soon.
Sources said, Pakistani importers are also displeased due to criminal activities of Maersk and QICT as they have lost huge amounts at the hands of corrupt staff of the shipping line and the terminal. Maersk and QICT have looted importers of Pakistan by charging huge illegal demurrage and detention charges. When contacted Maersk, they said that this is the very way how we make money and we cannot stop on it. They not only avoided answering questions specifically on SRO 1220 (I)/ 2015 which bars them from collecting such money but also went to the extent of threatening the correspondent of Customs Today. According to reports, these shipping lines and their agents in Pakistan and terminals like QICT are minting a whopping Rs 15 billion per year through such illegal charges while national exchequer is losing Rs 610 billion per year.
Sources said that state machinery including the regulatory bodies like KPT, Customs preventive are bound by law to restrain criminal activities of Maersk, QICT/DP World while could take similar action in Pakistan too and seize vessels and properties of Maersk lines and QICT/DP World if they did not stop their illegal activities. Maersk and QICT/DP World services could be halted here as well since importers have started legal process against the shipping line and approached Customs Preventive for cancellation of Maersk license for blackmailing and cheating and robbing genuine importers. If license of Maersk is cancelled, the shipping line could not call its vessels at Karachi ports. It is also expected their ships could be seized from Karachi ports as it happened in Tunisia and which probability exists to replicate by their displeased customers in other parts of the world.
Importers said Maersk shipping line and its subsidiary in Pakistan, M/S Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd are deliberately holding the containers for minting illegal money and robbing the importers.
Importers said, “they are suffering heavily daily due to non-availability of their goods, along with reputation loss & loss of customers, etc. and also the goods quality is deteriorating daily which leads to total loss very soon if the goods are not disposed in the markets”.
Soren Skou and Claus V. Hammingsen — Maersk Officials
Importers said, “The actions of Maersk shipping line and its subsidiary in Pakistan, M/S Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd through its owners, management and staff including but not limited to Soren Skou, Claus V. Hammingsen, Soren Toft, Vincent Clercp, Morten H. Engelstoft, Arslan Khan, Gazanfar Khan, Raheem Saleem, Maqsoodul Hassan Khan, Fawad Khan, Hassan Faraz, Shakeel Masih, Umer Khan, Ali Jawad Alvi, Zafar Iqbal, Ayesha Chaudhry, Zahid Hussain, Salman Ahmad, Amir Ali, Amees Aziz Khan, Muhammad Naeem, Farheen Mahmood, Mubashir Iqbal, Yasmeen Fasih, Afaq Syed, Syed Muhammad Abbas Jafri, Muhammad Tanveer Sharif, Salman Attique, Hamza Haqq, Zyad Mahmood, Amir Ibrahim, Yasir Saeed Khan, Amal Sadiq Dawood, Captain M. A. Rahman, Iffat Mahmood, Maria Arooj, Zain Warsi, Yumna Nadeem, Mahreen Zulfiqar, Awais Saleem, Zafar Iqbal, Syed Usman Iqbal Zaidi, Anam Yaqoob, Fahad Ali, Ubaid Iqbal, Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Ali Qureshi, Danish Qureshi, Amir Arif, Arshad Ayub, Syed Mudassir Ali, Syed Hammad Hussain, Ayesha Qadri, Sheikh Samiullah, Tanveer Hassan, others and of QICT / DP World through its owners, management and staff including but not limited to Sultan Ahmad Bin Suleman, Yuvraj Narayan, Deepak Parekh, Robert Woods, Abdulla Gobash, Mark Russel, Mohammad Saif Al Sowaidi, Nadia Abdulla Kamaili, Mohammad Al Moallem, Sohail Al Banna, Rizwan Somar, Rashid Abdullah, Mohammad Al Hashimy, Junaid Zameer and others, individually and jointly, tantamount to conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, mischief to cause losses, threatening, etc. which attract penal sections under PPC 34, 407, 409, 420, 427, 506, besides others.”
Arsalan Khan — MD Maersk Pakistan
Importers confirmed that they have finally lodged application against Maersk shipping line, M/S Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and QICT, and they are following up with the Bin Qasim police station on daily basis. The police officials assured the applicants that soon they will lodge the FIR according to law and take necessary legal action against all the accused persons involved in the mega scandal.
Sultan Ahmad Bin Suleman — QICT/DP World Group Chairman
