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In order to retrieve its phosphate cargo seized in Port Elizabeth since May 2017, OCP Group had to pay 79,001 U.S. Dollars (MAD 750 000), reveals French-language Magazine Jeune Afrique on Tuesday.
The global market leader of phosphate paid the above-mentioned amount of money on the 8th of May, after it was put up for auction in South Africa. According to the Magazine the money was to cover the court’s expenses.
Carrying a 50,000-ton phosphate cargo, Cherry Blossom was seized by a South African court after the Polisario Front lodged a complaint over the shipment’s ownership.
Jeune Afrique’s revelation comes as OCP announced on May the 8th that Cherry Blossom finally left the South African territorial waters, stating that its «cargo has been restored to its legitimate owner, OCP».
Released on May the 8th
In a communiqué, the group stated that the cargo has been bought by its operator. It was sold for «one symbolic Dollar», after it was put up for auction in South Africa, 10 months after being seized.
«In order to free their vessel, the ship operator covered the auctioneer’s costs and were awarded the cargo, which they then returned to its legitimate owner, the OCP Group, for a symbolic $1 USD», wrote the Group earlier this month.
For the record, the Port Elizabeth court ruled on Friday, 23rd of February, in the absence of the Moroccan party involved, that the Moroccan phosphate cargo belongs to the Polisario Front.
After being out in auction for months, no one has tried to buy the shipment which pushed South Africa to reach a settlement with the vessel’s operator and get them pay for the judicial fees only.
On the 1st of May, following a request submitted by the Polisario, a South African judge ordered the seizure of a Cherry Blossom which was loaded by a shipment of phosphate owned by Phosboucraa, resulting in the vessel being immobilized in Port Elizabeth. This request was based on purely political allegations, said Moroccan authorities.
