Australia: Fortescue settles US$20 million shipping dispute

Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group said on December 22 that it had reached a settlement over a shipping dispute with SK Shipping Europe.

In return for ending legal proceedings against the Perth-based miner, Fortescue will pay US$20.34 million to SK Shipping. Fortescue agreed to pay US$10.17 million for each of the two suspended ship charter contracts.

Furthermore, Fortescue has restructured its future cargo obligations to SK Shipping and agreed to freight rates at a base daily rate, as well as a hire incentive payment and profit share agreement.

Fortescue has achieved settlement with four counterparties with which it had disputes. The company said that it expected total damages from all disputes to be worth about US$171 million.
 

Source: Baird Maritime