Attorney Larry Successfully Reached Settlement in Maritime Compulsory Injunction Case for Export Enterprise, Quickly Retrieved Full Set of Detained Original Bills of Lading and Resolved Cargo Strandin

A certain export enterprise sold goods to a foreign buyer and handed over the cargo to its cooperating freight forwarder for shipment, who then sub-entrusted the task to another forwarder. However, after the cargo arrived at the destination port, due to a payment dispute between the upstream and downstream freight forwarders, the downstream forwarder detained the full set of original bills of lading and refused to deliver them to the export enterprise or the consignee.

Even after prolonged negotiations, the detaining forwarder insisted on releasing the bills of lading only after receiving an amount equivalent to dozens of times the cargo value. As a result, the cargo remained stranded at the destination port for a long time, incurring substantial ongoing costs.

Facing multiple risks such as loss of goods, trade default, and loss of payment, the export enterprise engaged the legal team of Attorney Larry from Landing (Shenzhen) Law Office, with Attorney Larry taking on the case.

This is a typical maritime emergency dispute—urgent, with very low tolerance for error. The core difficulty lies in the misalignment of dispute parties and the complexity of legal relationships. The root of the dispute was not any contractual or fee issue between the export enterprise and the freight forwarder, but rather an internal dispute between two freight forwarders. The export enterprise, as an innocent third party, bore the loss of the detained bills without any fault. Moreover, because the bills were detained, the cargo was stranded at a Middle Eastern port, facing the risk of loss due to war. If the bills were not recovered quickly, huge economic losses would occur in the short term, making the case extremely urgent.

After being retained, Attorney Larry’s legal team promptly analyzed the core issues, precisely sorted out the multi‑level freight legal relationships, secured key evidence including communication records and performance documents, and quickly defined the litigation strategy:

1. Clarify the facts to prove that the client had fully performed its obligations under the freight contract, with no breach or outstanding fees;

2. Prove that the opposing party had no legal basis to detain the original bills of lading, and that such detention seriously infringed upon the client’s legitimate maritime rights and interests;

3. Promptly initiate judicial proceedings and apply to the maritime court for a maritime compulsory injunction.

Attorney Larry’s legal team efficiently prepared case filing documents and legal submissions, accurately explained to the court the emergency situation, the opposing party’s infringing acts, and the client’s claims, fully demonstrating the necessity, lawfulness, and urgency of issuing a maritime compulsory injunction, and clearly stating that without prompt compulsory measures, the client’s losses would continue to expand and become irreparable.

At the same time, adhering to the principles of efficiently resolving the dispute, minimizing the client’s litigation costs and cargo demurrage losses, and helping the client obtain the original bills of lading as soon as possible, the team actively organized, participated in, and coordinated mediation communications between the parties throughout the process, explaining legal risks and infringement liabilities to the opposing party and pushing them to resolve the dispute expeditiously.

Through the professional efforts and coordination of Attorney Larry’s team, the export enterprise and the detaining freight forwarder eventually reached a settlement agreement. Under the supervision of the court, the forwarder cooperated in allowing the client to inspect the original bills of lading and deliver the full set of original bills of lading to the client. The client was thus able to deliver the full set of original bills of lading to the consignee smoothly. The trade crisis caused by the bill detention was successfully resolved, and the client’s export business resumed normal operations.

This case relied on the special procedure of maritime compulsory injunction and was efficiently concluded by way of settlement. It not only quickly resolved the sudden bill‑detention dispute but also minimized the time and financial costs associated with lengthy judicial proceedings. The client highly recognized and praised the outcome of the case and the professional maritime and commercial legal services of Attorney Larry’s team.