LONDON/SINGAPORE—The U.S. Justice Department has ordered top executives from several container shipping lines to testify in an antitrust investigation over practices by an industry that is the backbone of world trade, the companies said on Wednesday.
The world’s biggest container group, Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, together with second largest line MSC of Switzerland, Germany’s Hapag Lloyd, Taiwan-based Evergreen and Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) said their executives were among those who had been subpoenaed.
None offered details on what exactly was being sought by the U.S. authorities, although OOCL said its subpoena called for the production of documents.
The subpoenas were issued during a meeting of top container shipping executives last week in San Francisco. They are members of the International Council of Containership Operators, commonly known as the Box Club.
“We can confirm that we conducted an operation,” an FBI spokesman in San Francisco told Reuters on Wednesday. “It is part of an ongoing investigation and we are unable to release any additional details at this point.”
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.
Container lines, which transport everything from TVs to bananas, have tried to save money by setting up alliances to pool their ships’ sailing schedules and port calls. Critics say this can lead to reduced services and increased prices for customers.
The U.S. inquiry follows ones by other jurisdictions including South Africa and the European Union. These have examined pricing practices by the sector, which is still struggling with its worst slump and has seen companies going to the wall due to a glut of ships and sluggish global economic growth.
Such investigations could result in large fines at a time when the firms are still struggling to cut costs.
