Maersk, Argos announce settlement

Maersk, Argos announce settlement    Maersk Line and retail store chain Argos have reached a settlement in a cargo rate dispute.
   Argos reportedly asked for about $13.9 million, claiming that Maersk broke a contract and sharply increased freight rates.
   The U.K. newspaper The Independent in August quoted documents filed by Argos with the High Court in United Kingdom, which said Maersk “wrongfully repudiated and/or renounced the contract” forcing Argos “to find another shipping line in order to ship containers from the Far East to the UK.” It said that Maersk nearly tripled the rate in an agreement to ship 5,000 40-foot containers in both 2010 and 2011 from $930 to $2,730
   As a result, the court papers said Argos “obtained alternative space protection for a period of two years from Kuehne & Nagel. Accordingly, aggregate losses are $13,877,660.”
   Both companies issued terse, nearly identical statements this week saying the dispute was over and that they would continue to do business with each other.
   “Maersk has been an important carrier for Argos this year and this is set to continue. 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 forward,” said the retailer, a subsidiary of Home Retail Group. “The terms of that relationship are confidential and accordingly it is not appropriate to comment further.”
   Maersk issued a nearly identical statement, saying Argos was an important customer.
   Maersk said that it was not aware of any similar cases by shippers.