A judge in a New York District Court has ruled that Maersk can terminate its agreement with terminal operator Global Container Terminals (GCT) New York, following an application by the group to prevent Maersk switching its port calls to its own APM Terminals in Port Elizabeth, in New Jersey.
Last week Container News reported that GCT New York had filed a lawsuit claiming a severe loss of earnings and seeking to prevent the Danish liner operator from switching its three services, NAE, ECSA and ESCA.
In a statement to Container News, Maersk said, “On Friday, April 24th 2020, a New York District Court ruled against GCT’s request for a restraining order regarding our announced transfer of three services from GCT’s New York container terminal in Staten Island over to APM Terminals Elizabeth, NJ. We announced the planned move to achieve better operational efficiency in APM Terminals Elizabeth after its recent US$200 million upgrade and expansion”.
NAE calls at US East Coast ports and Manzanillo in Mexico and Cartagena in Colombia. Its ECSA service covers ports in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. And its ESCA service which operates to ports on the East Coast of South America to Europe.
Although the ruling went against GCT, the terminal company said it was determined not to lose the Maersk services and would pursue all possible avenues.
Nick Savvides
Managing Editor
