[291010.EN.SEA] Settlement Ends Hanjin, Sumitomo, Unitas Battle Of The Boxes

RAIDS by US Marshals, suits and counter suits between Korea's Hanjin Shipping, Japan's Sumitomo bank and Korean container lessor Unitas over who owns a disputed 5,900 containers, has come to an end with an out-of-court settlement among the parties, reported London's Containerisation International.

"We have reached a mutual agreement in full and final settlement of all pending claims," said a Hanjin statement. "As a result, the ownership of the containers has been acquired by Hanjin free of encumbrances with the parties having agreed to put an end to all pending disputes.

"In addition, all existing litigations including arrest proceedings in the US and the High Court proceedings in London raised against each other will be withdrawn. Therefore, we can confirm that the use of 5,900 units of containers will be normalised from now on with no further risk of disruption to Hanjin's service."

The conclusion follows a complex case of twists and turns, which started when Sumitomo and Unitas secured arrest order from six US courts against the 5,900 containers leased by Unitas to Hanjin in 2001, which had US Marshals dispatched to seize those boxes found in the United States.

Sumitomo sued to enforce its priority mortgage on the boxes after Unitas allegedly failed to pay its instalments; which it said resulted from its dispute with Hanjin.

Source : HKSG, 29.10.10.