Moroccan exporter OCP has said it will continue to ship out phosphate cargoes from the disputed region of Western Sahara despite the threat of legal action.
The 60,000-dwt AM Nomikos bulker NM Cherry Blossom (built 2015) spent a year in South Africa after its cargo was arrested by the Polisario Front, an organisation representing Western Sahara.
The ship left this month after the phosphate was bought by charterer Furness Withy and sold back to OCP.
The South African court had ruled the cargo belonged to the government of the Saharawi Republic (SADR) and auctioned it off.
But OCP told TradeWinds: "We believe this was an isolated event.
"The outcome clearly indicated that the OCP was considered the legitimate owner of the cargo under international law.
"The cargo was seized for political reasons, on the basis of a local court decision, which is a breach of international law and therefore has no judicial value outside South Africa.
"As the OCP always operates within the law, this will not affect the continuity of trade with our partners."
Legal threat remains
The case was the latest development in Polisario's long-running conflict with Morocco over the disputed territory where the two sides fought a war until a 1991 ceasefire and where UN talks have failed to reach an accord.
SADR said it would enforce an order from the case awarding it court costs payable by OCP.
"The SADR government continues to assert sovereign rights to the natural resources of occupied Western Sahara and to insist on a documented approval for any removal of them from the the territory," it said.
It warned "shipping interests, including time charterers", to safeguard themselves and their ships from legal liability and compensation-attachment proceedings.
"Voyage charterers and managing enterprises may not always disclose such risks. The SADR government strongly recommends contracts between ship interests prohibit the carriage of resources (or any commodity) from Western Sahara."
Kamal Fadel, an executive member of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Petroleum and Mining Authority, said in March the legal action was "just the beginning and we plan to target anyone that deals illegally with our resources."
