First Ship Lease is taking Torm to court to recoup costs it claims to be owed on two ships it bareboat chartered to the Danish shipowner.
The 109,000-dwt Torm Marie and Torm Margrethe (both built 2006) were part of a seven-year leaseback deal struck in 2011.
FSL claims the two tankers were returned in a poor condition when the contract ended, which Torm is disputing.
It is now pursuing a claim in the UK High Court to recover the cost of repairs, according to a statement from Singapore-listed FSL today.
The dispute led to the short-lived arrest of another Torm ship in the early days of 2019.
FSL told its investors class inspections found nine deficiencies of a “serious nature” on the Torm Margrethe and three on the Torm Marie.
As a result, FSL is seeking $1.89m plus legal costs and interest relating to the first ship. A figure has yet to be disclosed for the Torm Marine claim.
Security was posted for the Torm Margrethe. FSL says this was not the case with the Torm Marine, hence it secured the arrest of the 47,300-dwt Torm Amazon (built 2002) in Taiwan.
The ship was subsequently released after a $0.61m guarantee was provided.
In a statement of its own on Monday Torm said it is not in agreement with the various claims and allegations made by FSL.
"The disputes are being dealt with in accordance with the relevant dispute resolution provisions of the bareboat contracts in question," it added.
This article has been updated since first publication to include comment from Torm.
