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Legal dispute about loss of meat cargo

A lawsuit over the allision of the 'YM Truth' with a crane in Vancouver has drawn in four liner operators, a Chinese ship lessor, a Canadian terminal company and shipowner Costamare about who should pay for the loss of pork and beef products that went bad after the accident. The legal fight has been waging in the city’s Federal Court since Jan 2024, when Tokyo meat distributor Starzen and Japan Food Corp sued companies linked to the vessel and estimated losses of more than $1.99m. The companies had purchased chilled pork and beef from Canada that was to be shipped to Japan in Dec 2022. Before the vessel could leave the Vancouver port’s GCT Deltaport terminal, a gantry loading crane made contact with the vessel. The ship was damaged, unseaworthy and unable to leave the port of Vancouver on schedule and was delayed approximately three weeks in its voyage. The delay caused damage to the meat cargo that was discovered upon arrival at Japan’s port of Kobe, the lawyers alleged. In addition to targeting the Taiwanese container carrier Yang Ming Marine Transport. and a unit of Costamare, the two food companies sued the registered owner, a unit of Bank of Communications Financial Leasing. The Chinese bank, also known as Bocom Leasing, is the lease financier of the ship. The solicitors for Starzen and Japan Food Corp also went after three different arms of GCT Global Container Terminals. The food companies’ lawyers have alleged negligence by all the defendants, claiming that Starzen and Japan Food Corp instructed the vessel interests to adjust the temperature of the containers after the incident, but that was not carried out. They blamed the terminal’s maintenance and operation of the crane, and they alleged breaches in the care and control of the ship and the containers containing the chilled meat. Lawyers for GCT denied negligence claims because only some of the containers of meat products had been loaded on the ship at the time of the incident. The solicitors, Gregory Tucker and George Roper of Owen Bird Law, alleged in court papers that the real negligence was not to unload those containers and to load the remainder after the casualty. Yang Ming had denied any problem with the 'YM Truth' and rejected the claim that it failed to properly care for the meat. The Starzen and Japan Food Corp filed an amended statement of claim adding GCT to a lawsuit over the incident. The initial claim was filed in January. A lawyer who was representing both Costamare and Bocom Leasing entities, also denied the claims, stating that the ship was seaworthy in all aspects and fit for its intended purpose to carry the subject cargo of chilled pork and beef. He denied that the companies breached any legal duty of care or obligation” to the cargo. The lawsuit has led to a series of third-party claims. GCT filed a claim against the vessel interests, which have in turn filed claims against the terminal operator. GCT has also filed a claim against HMM of South Korea, the Japanese-controlled Ocean Network Express and Hapag-Lloyd as Yang Ming’s liner operator partners in the THE Alliance. HMM’s solicitor denied that GCT was entitled to any relief, contribution or indemnity sought from HMM, either as alleged or at all.