The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has closed its investigation into several shipping companies moving vehicles to Australia from Asia, Europe and the USA.
The investigation into Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and K-Line found that the companies allocated vehicle manufacturing customers between themselves, including on certain shipping routes to Australia, between June 2011 and July 2012. This, according to the verdict, gave those companies the capacity to limit or distort the competitive setting of freight rates.
NYK Line was fined AUD25 million (USD19.3 million) in August 2017, while K-Line was fined AUD34.5 million (USD26.7 million) in August 2019. Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean was the last of the carriers to be convicted, with its fine of AUD24 million (USD18.6 million) being handed out earlier in February, closing the investigation.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean previously pleaded guilty on June 18, 2020.