Recently, we posted about the MSC Gayane, the container ship seized on Monday by US Customs following a $1.3 billion cocaine bust last month in Philadelphia. We said that the ship was not owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) but by a shipping fund controlled by JP Morgan. We based this on a Fairplay article from October reporting the sale of the ship from SinOceanic.

Today, however, Captain C Allport commented that according to Equasis, the ship was sold by SinOceanic to MSC in October. Likewise, ship management responsibilities were taken over by MSC at about the same time. The source for this information on Equasis is listed as IHS Maritime.

On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal identifies the MSC Gayane as being owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and chartered to MSC. 

Who owns the MSC Gayane?  Right now, reliable sources say either MSC or JP Morgan.  Which is correct? Good question.

Why does it matter? As we posted previously, any ship, vehicle or plane can be seized for smuggling drugs, there is a clear exception for “common carriers.” A common carrier is an entity that transports goods or passengers on regular routes at set rates.  Container ship operators are common carriers. As long as the Bill of Lading and other related paperwork is in order, the common carrier is not liable is someone smuggles illegal goods inside a shipping container. That is not the case, however, if the common carrier is negligent or complicit in the smuggling. 

If the ship is owned by a third party and managed by a subcontractor, MSC may argue that they were not it in any way complicit in the smuggling. If they both own and manage the ship, that argument may potentially be harder to make. 

On Wednesday, MSC stated that it is not the target of a U.S. investigation that was launched after customs authorities found almost 20 tons of cocaine on MSC Gayane.

Thanks to Captain Allport for passing along the Equasis data.