The Shanghai Maritime Court has seized a vessel owned by shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines at a port in Zhejiang Province for failing to respond to a compensation order stemming from a wartime contractual dispute, Shanghai municipal authorities announced Sunday.
It appears to be the first time that an asset of a Japanese company has been confiscated in a lawsuit concerning wartime compensation. The container ship, identified by local media and municipal authorities as the Baosteel Emotion, was seized on Saturday.
The Maritime Court said that if Mitsui does not honor its legal obligations, it will dispose of the ship in accordance with the law.