Nigerian court orders arrest of Topaz Marine Vessels

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has ordered the arrest of marine vessels belonging to an international marine services company, Topaz Marine, over disputes between the company and its local partner for breach of contract terms guiding a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into by both parties.

Following a long-standing dispute with Topaz Marine, the local partner last week obtained the arrest warrant on Topaz vessels including Topaz Seema, Topaz Faye.

The local company had filed a claim of over $20 million against Topaz Marine based on a business development agreement it had with Topaz, which its Managing Director, Rene Kofod Olsen had reneged on.

The company was said to have acquired a reputation of not keeping to her obligations and disrespect for laws of countries in which it operates.

Findings showed that the arrest order will further jeopardize Topaz’s fortunes which have been nose-diving from a net share value of over $1.3 billion in 2012, to the present low of just $200 million.

Also, Topaz declared a loss of $40million dollars in 2016 as a result of the arbitrary management under Rene. It also has outstanding issues with ship-builders regarding vessels that were ordered and have been abruptly stopped without notice.