OCEANIA

Auckland-P&O Nedlloyd in contract dispute

21 years ago

P& O Nedlloyd is understood to be seeking between US$735,000 and US$3.68m reimbursement in a contract dispute with Ports of Auckland. Having lost a service from the carrier in February last year, the port company is understood to be questioning whether P& O Nedlloyds remaining volume is sufficient to trigger an historic fee discount.

Tony Gibson: a difference in interpretation

P&O Nedlloyd New Zealand md Tony Gibson says the two parties “have differed in their interpretation of clauses relating to payments due to P&O Nedlloyd. The Statement of Claim made by P&O Nedlloyd against Ports of Auckland is a contractual matter and relates to the interpretation of the commercial terms of the contract between the parties, ” he says.

Ports of Auckland chief executive Geoff Vazey has played down the dispute. “All of our income is from contracts, ” he says. “We’ve got dozens and dozens and dozens of them. Any large company with dozens of contracts will have some matters somewhere in some contracts which are unresolved.”

P&O Nedlloyd is understood to be Ports of Auckland’s largest carrier customer. The dispute does not come at a good time for the port, with P&O Nedlloyd soon set to make a decision on whether it retains its 4100-TEU Eastabout vessel calls at the port or moves them to nearby Port of Tauranga.