Maersk reaches out of court settlement with UK retailer Argos

MAERSK LINE is believed to have reached an out of court settlement with Argos in the UK for the Danish carrier to refund the high street retailer nearly US$14 million in costs and damages, to avoid a potentially damaging contract law suit in a UK court.

"Argos and Maersk are no longer in dispute and their commercial relationship has now been established in a way which both companies believe provides a significantly firmer contractual basis going forwards," said Maersk Line.

"Argos is, and continues to be, an important customer for Maersk. The terms of the relationship are confidential, and accordingly it is not appropriate to comment further," Maersk said.

The reported settlement comes after Argos filed a $13.9 million claim against Maersk Line in January, alleging that it had "wrongfully repudiated and/or renounced the contract," which it said was to ship 5,000 FEU from Asia to the UK this year and in 2011, reported London's International Freighting Weekly.

Argos claimed that as a result it was forced to find another shipping line and contracted with Swiss forwarder, Kuehne + Nagel which offered it "space protection for a period of two years," reported London's Containerisation International.

The retailer alleged that Maersk Line said it "would no longer provide any space at the agreed rate of $930 per container." Subsequently, the file continued, Maersk "unilaterally imposed an increased rate of $2,730 per container," the report said.

"The dispute was seen as a test case for the industry with several other aggrieved major shippers and NVOCCs assembling in the wings with their legal briefs awaiting the outcome," it added.
(Source:www.schednet.com)