A group of shipowners have launched legal action to seize a tanker and its cargo in an ongoing dispute with Venezuelan producer PDVSA over unpaid fees.

The Daily Herald said ten companies registered in Liberia were represented in the case at the Court of First Instance in the Dutch Caribbean island of St Maarten.

The row centres on an unnamed tanker, anchored off St Eustatius, that is also reportedly the subject of a UK court claim.

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