Yang Ming Marine Transport has reached an out-of-court settlement with US gourmet food producer MSRF after the latter complained to the US Federal Maritime Commission.
In June 2022, MSRF filed a complaint with the FMC, alleging that Yang Ming and South Korean flagship carrier HMM colluded to breach their contractual obligations to itself, and reportedly failed to provide sufficient shipping capacity. This forced MSRF to incur over US$2.2 million in buying pricier slots on the spot market between May and December 2021. At the time, container freight rates were at an all-time peak, due to logistical bottlenecks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
On 24 August, MSRF and Yang Ming submitted a motion to the FMC, saying that the food producer and the Taiwanese liner operator had reached a confidential settlement to the dispute.
Yang Ming was represented by Rebecca Fenneman of Jeffrey/Fenneman Law + Strategy while Kevin Williams of law firm Clarks Hill acted for MSRF.
The FMC said that it had reviewed the settlement, and accordingly, has closed the matter.
The FMC encourages disputes to be settled, as litigation is costlier.
However, MSRF’s complaint against HMM remains outstanding.
In August 2022, Yang Ming also settled a similar dispute with US home furnishings company Achim Importing Company, which accused the Taiwanese carrier of under-supplying shipping capacity, according to its contract.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
