‘Nothing further’ on shipping line probe

Nothing further has transpired
from the September raid on
six shipping companies by the
Competition Commission (CC).
At the time of this search
and seizure operation, where
documents and electronic
data were confiscated in the
Western Cape and Kwazulu-
Natal, the CC said it had
“reasonable grounds to suspect”
that Hamburg Süd, Maersk,
Safmarine, MSC, Pacific
International Line (PIL) and
CMA CGM in SA had indulged
in fixing incremental rates for
the shipment of cargo from
Asia to SA.
But all pleaded not guilty
to such cartel behaviour when
FTW interviewed them soon
after the raids.
Now, follow-up enquiries
with the lines have come up
empty.
As Jose Jardim, SA MD of
Hamburg Süd, said: “These
things take time,” adding that
his company was “co-operating”
with the CC investigation.
Arnold Eckersley,
spokesman for Maersk Line
and its sister company,
Safmarine, along with
Glenn Delve, national
marketing director for MSC,
both professed to have heard
“nothing further’.
Itumeleng Lesofe,
spokesman for the CC, told
FTW that the investigation
was still on-going. “But
there is nothing more to
report to you at this stage,”
he added.