A mainland luxury passenger liner was heading home last night, minus most of its passengers, after being stranded in South Korea's Jeju Island since Friday over a business dispute with Hong Kong shipping firm.
The Henna sailed from Tianjin on Wednesday with 1,659 passengers and 650 crew for a six-day voyage.
It was due to leave Jeju for Incheon on Friday afternoon, but was prevented from leaving port after Shagang Shipping, a Hong Kong-based shipping service company, obtained a seizure order from a local court.
The ship was allowed to leave yesterday afternoon with 87 remaining passengers who opted to remain onboard. More than 400 passengers were flown back to Beijing yesterday in two charter planes. Another 1,121 passengers flew to Beijing on Sunday while 14 others made their own way back from Seoul.
Shagang Shipping has been engaged in a global legal battle to recoup US$58 million in unpaid ship charter fees and ship broker commissions from Grand China Shipping, which in the process of winding up in Hong Kong.
Grand China's guarantor was HNA Group, whose subsidiary HNA Tourism operates the Henna. Shagang Shipping applied to the court in August to withhold HNA group's assets.
On Saturday, Shagang said it was concerned about the welfare of the passengers, but would continue to pursue its claims.