Philippine Bureau of Customs taken to court over ‘unwarranted’ tanker seizure

Magnolia Shipping, a Singapore offshoot of Greece’s Sea World, has taken the Philippines’ Bureau of Customs to court over a vessel seizure. The shipowner claims customs officials carried out an “unwarranted seizure and detention” of the Alpine Magnolia, a bunker tanker that is on charter to Glencore. The ship was arrested at the port of Limay, across Manila Bay from the capital, on charges that it was carrying smuggled bunker fuel.

Magnolia maintains the arrest was wrong, carried out on an “unfounded allegation” and “without due process”.

Moreover, Magnolia maintains that the incident has led to major client, BP Group, stopping any business with the Alpine Magnolia until subsidiary BP Shipping is satisfied that adequate measures have been taken.