A Target Corp. insurer sued a global shipping company after a 2021 incident allegedly sent $5.8 million in consumer goods overboard, plunging into the North Pacific Ocean.
Target Corp. insurer sues global shipping giant for losing $5.8M of retail goods
The goods were en route from Cambodia and China to California when they allegedly went overboard in 2021.
October 31, 2023 at 5:49PM
New York-based Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. sued Copenhagen-based Maersk in the Southern District of New York on Oct. 18. The lawsuit indicated that between Jan. 12, 2021, and Feb. 4, 2021, a ship picked up cargo at the ports of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Yantian District, China, for transport to California on the Maersk Eidenoven container ship.
The suit charged "the entire cargo was lost overboard due to the negligence or breach of duty of defendants and/or their agents, servants, employees or representatives."
A few days after the cargo loss, the company said in a news release that the ship "experienced a loss of engine propulsion for three to four minutes while sailing 45 nautical miles off Northern Japan in heavy seas on Feb. 17, 2021." It added that the "loss of maneuverability resulted in severe rolling, with 260 containers overboard and 65 containers damaged on deck." But not all of the cargo on board belonged to Target. Starr insured approximately 57 containers of packages.
Among the demands, Starr is seeking the ship's seizure and sale to help pay back Target's losses.
A representative for Maersk said the company is reviewing the complaint but had no comment on active litigation. Representatives for Target and Starr were not available to comment.
The Maritime Executive, a trade publication, reported 2020 and 2021 as especially challenging for the industry in terms of lost cargo. It reported nearly 4,000 boxes went overboard in 2020, plus another 2,000 in 2021, per data from the World Shipping Council.
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