Hapag-Lloyd has had its liability capped after a fire aboard one of its containerships in early January.
District judge Gregory Woods signed an order last Friday limiting claims against the German shipowner to $15.9m after the 3 January fire on the 7,510-teu Yantian Express (built 2002) in the North Atlantic.
The fire started in a sealed container stowed on deck, court papers said, which saddled the "shipper(s), receiver(s), owner(s) and consignee(s) of the cargo" with the liability, instead of the owner.
The owner of the cargo was not been identified. Hapag-Lloyd said companies have indicated that they will file claims related to the fire.
At the time, Hapag-Lloyd was party to a vessel sharing agreement with Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming Marine Transport, with the ship carrying cargo for the two.
The fire took a week to get under control and required thew crew of 23 to evacuate.
According to court papers, the ship was towed to Freeport, Bahamas for $315,000 in repairs before finally arriving in its intended port of Halifax, Nova Scotia 21 May.
The ship still needs an estimated $2.2m in repairs, which will be performed in China. It departed Halifax 27 May.
According to AIS data provided by VesselsValue, the Yantian Express is currently in the Indian Ocean west of Indonesia, en route to Singapore.
