UAE detains Pakistani oil tanker for demurrrage

KARACHI: A Pakistani oil tanker named MT Lahore has been detained at the Dubai sea port on the orders of the UAE court.
Chairman Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) Arif Elahi, while talking to The News, said the matter will be resolved soon, as it is an old dispute of demurrage and a routine matter.
MT Lahore was detained after a Ukrainian shipping company handed the Fujairah port operator an arrest warrant issued by a UAE court, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation said.
The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation chairman said the amount of demurrage is disputed, “according to our records the amount is $186000, while the company claims the amount to be around $210,000.”
He said his side has mobilised the P&I Club, an international insurance entity, to settle the dispute.
MT Lahore was detained at Fujairah Port of Dubai on Friday after a UAE court decreed in favour of M/s Vista Shipping that claimed ship demurrages against PNSC, since June 2014.
The News further learned that the Ukrainian firm had also approached the international maritime organisation through an application, asking the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation to pay an extra amount Rs 1.7 million as penalty until the clearance of demurrage.
Another official at the corporation said M/s Vista Shipping had demanded $210,000 from the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation which in June last year had chartered the former's oil tanker for the import of furnace oil to Pakistan.
The P&I backed solution may require the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation to pay to the claimant around $210000, on the other hand chairman PNSC believes that the decision will come in PNSC’s favour and the firm will pay $186,000.