A Norwegian shipping company has been convicted of criminal cartel conduct by the Federal Court. 

Global shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean AS (WWO) has been ordered to pay a fine of $24 million, in a case prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP).

It follows an extensive investigation by the ACCC into an international cartel involving several international shipping companies in relation to the shipping of vehicles to Australia from Asia, Europe and the US on behalf of major car manufacturers.

In Australia, three international shipping companies have been convicted and fined a total of $83.5m in relation to this cartel. In August 2017, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) was fined $25 million, while K-Line was fined $34.5 million in August 2019, which remains the largest criminal fine ordered under the Competition and Consumer Act.

This week, the Federal Court found WWO had engaged in a cartel with the other shipping companies in relation to the transportation of vehicles such as cars, trucks and buses to Australia between June 2011 and July 2012.

WWO along with other multinational shipping companies gave effect to a cartel provision by allocating major vehicle manufacturing customers between themselves including on certain shipping routes to Australia. 

This cartel had the capacity to limit or distort the competitive setting of freight rates and was likely or at least had the potential to impact on the prices paid by Australian consumers.

WWO’s conduct was found to be covert, deliberate, systematic, and involved planning and deliberation.