AP Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world's largest container shipping company, CMA CGM SA and Hapag-Lloyd AG are among companies raided by European Union antitrust officials over possible collusion.
The European Commission made unannounced inspections at the offices of companies active in "container liner shipping in several member states," it said in an e-mailed statement today. It didn't name the companies involved.
EU regulators said they had "reason to believe" that the companies may have breached EU cartel or monopoly-abuse rules. The raid doesn't mean that the companies are guilty of anti- competitive behavior, the commission said.
The container industry returned to profit last year as volumes and freight rates recovered. Maersk said on May 11 that while freight rates will be under pressure in the "short term," the market will improve in the second half of the year.
Maersk will "fully cooperate with the Commission's employees to investigate the matter thoroughly," Christian Kledal, the head of Maersk's legal group, said in an e-mailed statement. The company's "practices are in compliance with EU competition legislation," he said.
Hapag-Lloyd, the shipping company owned by TUI AG and Albert Ballin GmbH, said it is also under investigation.
Hapag said in a statement that regulators were checking whether companies have breached antitrust rules since October 2008 when the EU ended immunity to deals, known as liner shipping conference agreements, that fixed prices for almost two decades.
Hamburg Sued
CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping company, is also part of the EU probe, it said in an e-mailed statement. The closely held Marseille-based company said it's cooperating with regulators.
Hamburg Sued was raided by commission officials today and is fully cooperating with them, Eva Graumann, a spokeswoman for the Hamburg-based company said in a phone interview.
Neptune Orient Lines Limited, Southeast Asia's largest shipping line, said EU officials visited its Uxbridge, England, offices. NOL is cooperating with regulators and "believes that it is in compliance with the anti-competition regulators," it said in a statement.
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and United Arab Shipping said they weren't raided.
Maersk Line, which owns or charters more than 500 ships, has vessel-sharing agreements with CMA CGM and Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world's second-biggest container line. Under such deals, shipping lines can buy space on competitors' ships to reduce costs.
Maersk and CMA CGM are both members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, which works to "develop voluntary, non-binding guidelines for rates and charges," according to its website.
Mediterranean Shipping declined to immediately comment.
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