Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- TMT Co., the shipping line led by Nobu Su, had crude-oil tankers detained in Rotterdam and Delaware over claims the firm missed charter payments.

The Rotterdam District Court ordered the seizure of Gulf Sheba’s fuel on Oct. 5 after being asked to do so by ship owners with $36.3 million of claims against Great Elephant Corp., a unit of TMT, according to court and bailiffs’ documents obtained by Bloomberg News.

The U.S. federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, issued a similar order Oct. 13 relating to the fuel held on the Genmar St. Nikolas, an oil tanker also leased by Great Elephant. That request was made by some of the ship owners in the Rotterdam case, according to court documents.

Nobu Su said he is in talks to pay one of the ship owners and would seek to “resolve the situation” with another owner once those negotiations are completed. “The company continues to perform,” he said in a statement distributed by an outside spokesman in London yesterday.

Su said Oct. 5 he was returning tankers early from long- term rentals to make way for new vessels with more safety features. Owners taking back ships from TMT before their leases expire “should be happy” with the fees paid out previously, he said in an interview in London. Su’s fleet also spans gas and commodity carriers.

Rental Income

Rental income from shipping Middle East oil on supertankers slumped below running costs this year, according to data from the Baltic Exchange and Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. The global fleet is expanding, with tankers on order representing enough capacity to carry about 890 million barrels of oil, or 10 days of global demand.

Gulf Sheba’s detention was confirmed by Tie Schellekens, a spokesman for Port of Rotterdam, on Oct. 6. The seizure of the fuel was confirmed on the same day by Per Wistoft, chief executive officer of Dubai-based Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC, who also confirmed his company owns the ship.

The seizure was requested by Eleni Efta Special Maritime Enterprises, Motivation Marine Ltd., Buffalo Maritime Services SA, Ilaira Shipping & Trading SA and Gulf Sheba Shipping Ltd., the notices show. They say Great Elephant failed to pay fees for the Gulf Sheba, Spyros, Crudesun, Crudestar and Crudesky.

Eleni Efta is seeking $9.1 million from Great Elephant because of unpaid fees on the 2 million-barrel carrier Spyros, the Rotterdam documents show. The ship’s ultimate owner is NS Lemos & Co., according to Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay data on Bloomberg.

Motivation Marine

Motivation Marine, the registered owner of the Crudesun, is claiming $3.7 million. The ship’s ultimate owner is Athens- based Metrostar Management Corp. Buffalo Maritime is seeking $3.75 million for the Crudestar, which is also ultimately owned by Metrostar. Gulf Sheba Shipping is the registered owner of the Gulf Sheba and is seeking $17.8 million from Great Elephant.

Great Elephant is named as a subsidiary of TMT in the U.S. and European complaints.

“We are in discussions to pay Metrostar and soon as this has been done, we will be trying to resolve the situation with Lemos,” Nobu Su said in yesterday’s statement. “TMT has been paying everybody for charter performance since market dived after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the company continues to perform.”

Motivation Marine also filed a suit against Great Elephant in the High Court in London on Oct. 14. The exact nature of the claim wasn’t immediately available.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at Anightingal1@bloomberg.net; Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 19, 2009 19:01 EDT