$81m Fine Given to Various Liner Operators by Korea Fair Trade Commission

Suspicious operations arose in 2018 when timber importers noticed that many liner operators mysteriously raised their freight rates specifically for the South Korea-Southeast Asia route all at the same time.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) was asked to investigate into the matter and after discussing with other organizations and receiving some pressure from government, it was announced on January 18 a combined fine of $80.7 million would be imposed on the 23 liner operators who were found to have colluded to fix freight rates for a period of over 15 years on the South Korea-Southeast Asia route.

Liners included in the fine were HMM, SM Merchant Marine (SM Line), Pan Ocean, Sinokor Merchant Marine, Maersk Sealand, COSCO, SITC Container Lines, Evergreen Marine Corporation, Yang Ming Marine Transport and Wan Hai Lines with Korea Marine Transport Company (KMTC Line) being fined the largest amount of $24.86m.