Pak Steel hires lawyer to get ship released
Indian company lodges complaint to recover ‘dues’.
KARACHI:
Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) has hired a lawyer to get a ship released in Canada, which was carrying 55,000 tons of coal worth around Rs1 billion ($11.76 million) for the mill, a PSM spokesperson told The Express Tribune.
The ship, MV Thorasace, was detained in Canadian waters on Wednesday after an Indian shipping company, Femento, lodged a complaint against PSM in the court of British Columbia, Canada. The company pleaded that the ship should be seized as PSM had not cleared its dues amounting to around $10 million since 2007.
The spokesperson said that PSM reserved the right to file an appeal in the Canadian court. “We are confident that the ship will be released soon,” he added.
PSM in 2004 signed a business deal with Femento for the supply of coal, but the deal was scrapped later on the grounds of low-quality commodity supplied by the Indian company, he said. Since then, the two firms had been at loggerheads, but had continued to deal with each other.
MV Thorasace was expected to reach Port Qasim on June 13 to offload coal, the PSM spokesperson informed. Reports say that the Canadian authorities seized the ship under maritime laws near Robert Bank Port of Canada.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2011.
Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) has hired a lawyer to get a ship released in Canada, which was carrying 55,000 tons of coal worth around Rs1 billion ($11.76 million) for the mill, a PSM spokesperson told The Express Tribune.
The ship, MV Thorasace, was detained in Canadian waters on Wednesday after an Indian shipping company, Femento, lodged a complaint against PSM in the court of British Columbia, Canada. The company pleaded that the ship should be seized as PSM had not cleared its dues amounting to around $10 million since 2007.
The spokesperson said that PSM reserved the right to file an appeal in the Canadian court. “We are confident that the ship will be released soon,” he added.
PSM in 2004 signed a business deal with Femento for the supply of coal, but the deal was scrapped later on the grounds of low-quality commodity supplied by the Indian company, he said. Since then, the two firms had been at loggerheads, but had continued to deal with each other.
MV Thorasace was expected to reach Port Qasim on June 13 to offload coal, the PSM spokesperson informed. Reports say that the Canadian authorities seized the ship under maritime laws near Robert Bank Port of Canada.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2011.