Justice Department Indicts Norway Ship Executives on Antitrust Charges

Prosecutors said former Höegh Autoliners executives were part of a yearslong conspiracy to fix vehicle-shipment prices

Höegh Autoliners earlier pleaded guilty to price fixing and was sentenced to pay a $21 million fine, according to the Justice Department.PHOTO: ROBIN UTRECHT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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The Justice Department has charged two former executives of Norway’s Höegh Autoliners A/S with participating in a sprawling conspiracy to fix prices for seaborne vehicle shipments, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
Prosecutors said former Höegh Chief Executive Ingar Skiaker and another senior executive, Øyvind Ervik, allegedly conspired with competitors to allocate certain customers and routes and to rig bids and fix prices for the international shipment of cars and trucks from the U.S. and elsewhere, including the Port of Baltimore. The alleged scheme began as early as 2006 and continued at least until September 2012, prosecutors said.
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s antitrust division said in a statement that the investigation into auto shipments revealed collusion was “endemic and rampant in the shipping industry going back years.” He said Höegh Autoliners has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to pay a $21 million fine.

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Höegh Autoliners didn’t respond to a request for comment. Messrs. Skiaker and Ervik couldn’t be reached for comment.
A total of 13 shipping executives from five companies specializing in what is known as roll-on roll-off transport of vehicles have been charged in the case. Five companies including Höegh have pleaded guilty, resulting in a combined criminal fine of $255 million. Four executives have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to serve prison terms, while others remain international fugitives, the Justice Department said.
Price collusion is a common charge in the shipping industry, which moves the world’s commodities and manufactured goods.
Global regulators and judicial authorities have launched wide-ranging probes over the years into some of the biggest shipping players, but many have ended without charges being filed. In February the Justice Department closed a two-year investigation into allegations of price fixing by a number of top boxship operators without filing charges or imposing fines.
Write to Costas Paris at costas.paris@wsj.com

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