Auto Shipping Company Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price-Fixing

Norwegian ocean carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS agreed to plead guilty to felony charges of price-fixing and bid-rigging, the fourth company specializing in transporting automobiles internationally to be charged in a global dragnet into the automotive shipping industry.

From 2000 to 2012, WWL and several unnamed co-conspirators conspired to fix prices for the shipment of automobiles to and from the Port of Baltimore, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday. WWL will pay a fine of $98.9 million.

"It is with great regret that I conclude that our policies were not always followed as they should have been," said WWL chairman Hå kan Larsson in a prepared statement. "We have supported this investigation throughout, and whilst it is a sad day, I am pleased to have reached this settlement with the DOJ. We will continue our work to meet the highest ethical standards. It is what we owe our customers as well as ourselves."

Inna Getselis, a WWL spokeswoman based in New Jersey, said there are a number of investigations involving the company still ongoing. A DOJ spokesman declined to comment beyond the news release.

WWL is one of the world's largest carriers of so-called roll-on, roll-off cargo, which includes cars, trucks and agricultural and industrial equipment that can be driven straight onto the deck of a vessel and does not require a container.

Government investigators in Japan, China, South Africa and the U.S. began investigating price-fixing in the industry in 2012, and WWL and others have paid fees amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in multiple countries.

In the U.S., federal investigators have indicted executives or reached settlements with three other ro-ro carriers: Japan's Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) line and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., or K-Line, and Chile's Compañ ia Sudamericana de Vapores S.A., resulting in fines of more than $300 million in total, according to the DOJ's web site. The earlier settlements occurred in 2014 and 2015.

In its statement on the settlement, WWL said the fine would put an end to a U.S. government investigation into WWL's sister company, South Korea's Eukor Car Carriers Inc. Both WWL and Eukor are part-owned by Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA, a publicly-listed holding company in Norway.

Aage Holm, head of investor relations for the holding company, said it had set aside $200 million to cover fines, but said that the payments would not have a material financial impact on the company.

Write to Robbie Whelan at robbie.whelan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2016 20:25 ET (00:25 GMT)

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