The Rotterdam port authority has issued a hefty bill for a bunkers spill earlier this summer by an Odfjell-managed, Bahri-owned chemical tanker.
In a US arrest case, the authority's lawyers have secured a claim of some $34m, but Dutch press cite port authority boss Allard Castelein as putting the damage at over €80m ($92.8m).
Through an outside spokesman, Svein Buvik, senior vice president at protection and indemnity club Gard, declined to comment on the case, citing client confidentiality.
Odfjell chief operating officer Harald Fotland acknowledged that there are "different cost estimates mentioned by different parties".
"To our knowledge, however, the total final costs are not known and therefore difficult to comment on," Fotland said in a statement to TradeWinds. "We are very sorry for this incident and its implications, and Odfjell will compensate for documented losses up to the maximum legal liability."
To our knowledge, however, the total final costs are not known and therefore difficult to comment on
The 37,499-dwt Bow Jubail (built 1996) spilled a reported 217 tonnes of heavy fuel oil after colliding with a jetty on 23 June. Dutch authorities said at the time that clean-up efforts were expected to take "at least days, if not weeks, but possibly longer".
The ship is listed as owned by Saudi Arabia's National Chemical Carriers Ltd (NCC) and insured by Norway's Gard.
Lawyers for the port authority, Havenbedrijf Rotterdam, told US federal courts in Texas and Louisiana that its damages have come to about €28.75m ($33.7m), and a Texas judge granted their application to arrest the ship when it called at Houston in late July. The ship was promptly released after security was provided in the unreported arrest case.
NCC, or Bahri Chemical, is a subsidiary of the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri).
Fotland told TradeWinds that the registration and handling of claims are currently ongoing. The Rotterdam District Court is handling limitation of liability proceedings, while US courts are following up on the arrest case.
It is not fully clear which parties will finally pick up which shares of the bill in a case where Odfjell is manager and charterer.
"According to the provisions of [relevant international] conventions, the maximum legal liability is in effect for the parties on the ship’s side," Fotland said in his statement.
