US Justice Department probes shipping practices to Puerto Rico
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| Published on Saturday, April 19, 2008 |
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By Angela Greiling Keane
WASHINGTON, USA (Bloomberg): Alexander & Baldwin Inc., the parent of ocean-transport company Matson Navigation, and Crowley Maritime Corp. said they are part of a US Justice Department probe into shipping practices to Puerto Rico.
The disclosures mean that at least three maritime operators are being questioned regarding Puerto Rico trade. Horizon Lines Inc. said late Thursday that federal agents served it with a search warrant.
The Justice Department will issue a subpoena to Matson as part of a probe of carriers' pricing practices, Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin said Friday. Jacksonville, Florida-based Crowley said US investigators obtained company records yesterday.
Matson will be subpoenaed "for documents related to domestic ocean carriage,'' Alexander & Baldwin said in a statement, promising to "cooperate fully'' with investigators.
The inquiry focuses on ocean carriers serving Puerto Rico, Alexander & Baldwin said in the statement, adding that Matson doesn't sail to the US commonwealth. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Horizon and closely held Crowley both do.
Alexander & Baldwin said it doesn't expect the investigation to affect its service. The company's container ships travel primarily between the West Coast and Hawaii and also serve China.
Crowley will "cooperate with investigators and is confident that it has acted appropriately,'' spokesman Mark Miller said Friday in an e-mail. "Neither Crowley, nor its employees, have been identified as targets of this investigation.''
Alexander & Baldwin's Matson, Horizon and Crowley compete in the U.S-flag shipping market controlled by a 1920 federal law known as the Jones Act. The statute requires carriers sailing between US ports to be US-owned and use US-built ships with crews that are at least 75 percent US citizens.
Horizon said yesterday it was cooperating with investigators.
Standard & Poor's said the inquiry hasn't changed its ratings or its "stable'' outlook on Horizon's debt.
"We will continue to closely monitor developments,'' S&P analyst Funmi Afonja, who is based in New York, said Friday in a statement. | | | | Reads : 1 |
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