An arrested Reederei Nord aframax tanker has been released after the German shipowner paid compensation for damaging a moor at Primorsk Oil Terminal in August.

The two sides settled their dispute for $7.2m, with the shipping company managing to almost halve the Russian port’s initial $16.1m claim.

An agreement was formally approved early in December by the arbitration court of St Petersburg.

Following the settlement, the 112,100-dwt Nordindependence (built 2018) left Primorsk and is underway in the Mediterranean. Vessel trackers show the ship as heading towards Arzew, Algeria.

The Primorsky Commercial Port, which is the Russian terminal’s operating outfit, secured an arrest order for the Japanese-built Nordindependence on 28 August, two days after the ship was involved in an allision while unmooring to depart from the port's berth No 4.

The vessel was under pilotage and assisted by three tugs at the time of the incident. None of the crew were injured and no pollution occurred. However, the ship suffered minor damage to the hull above the waterline.

Extent of damage

Following the incident, Primorsk reported damage to the berth's hydraulic structure and technological equipment. A pile was found to have come unstuck. Concrete was said to have cracked at the berth’s upper structure, or grillage, exposing reinforcements.

This is the second case in recent years that has seen the Russian port operator secure multi-million-dollar compensation. In the summer of 2018, Greek shipowner Delta Tankers secured the release of one of its aframaxes arrested there for striking a quay.

The Delta settlement cost the International Group of P&I Clubs $27m, down from an original claim of $63.5m.

Russian lawyer Konstantin Krasnokutskiy represented Reederei Nord in a dispute with the Primorsk port. Photo: Konstantin Krasnokutskiy

Reederei Nord resolved its dispute much quicker than Delta, which went through an 18-month ordeal.

In both cases, shipowners were represented by Konstantin Krasnokutskiy, a lawyer at St Petersburg-based law firm Lex Navicus Concordia.

"One needs a lot of skill and good seamanship to enter Primorsk," Krasnokutskiy told TradeWinds. "The port is complicated in terms of navigation — the surrounding waters are shallow for aframax tankers."

The use of pilots and tugs is mandatory, but this is no guarantee that accidents will not happen, according to Krasnokutskiy.

"The berths and jetties are built upon lengthy pillars," he said. "Even small or moderate contact leads to significant damage with high repair costs, due to the complexity of the local hydraulic engineering."

As if navigational complications were not enough, dealing with Primorsk can be tricky from a legal standpoint as well. Being an affiliate of US and EU-sanctioned state-owned company Transneft, Primorsk does not accept P&I clubs' letters of undertaking.

"Given the difficulties to obtain a Russian bank guarantee on satisfactory terms or to deposit cash with courts, vessels remain the only effective security for claimants," Krasnokutskiy said.

The Nordindependence is one of 14 ships in the N2Tankers pool, formed in October 2018 by Nord and Nissen Kaiun. It is managed by Reederei Nord's Amsterdam-based tanker division.