PARADIP: A cargo ship has been detained at Paradip Port on the direction of a court which has asked its owner to appear before it. As several other ships wait to berth, the port authorities have sought the intervention of the court.According to sources, the manager-cum-owner of MV Theometor, Latona Maritime Co, Piraeus, Greece, had procured different products including fertilizer from Singapore-based Valency International Trading Pvt Ltd (VIT).
VIT is a premier global commodity trading house having wide network in various continents. MV Theometor carrying 51,350 tons of rock phosphate of Paradeep Phosphate Ltd (PPL) had docked in Paradip Port on Monday. After unloading its cargo, the vessel was scheduled to set sail on Thursday.
The sources said as the manager of Latona Maritime Co had allegedly misappropriated crores of rupees in business transaction with VIT, the latter was on the lookout for the ship. Acting on a tip off that MV Theometor had docked in Paradip Port, VIT filed a writ petition against Latona Maritime Co and MV Theometor at civil judge (senior division), Kujang on April 16.
After hearing the case, the court ordered to maintain status quo on the movement of the ship and summoned the manager-cum-owner of the vessel to appear before it by April 30. As a result, the ship could not set sail from the port.Meanwhile, the port authorities have sought intervention of court to allow the vessel to vacate the captive berth as entry of other ships berth has been affected.