A timber exporter which lost a load of logs on Rena has been told it must still pay its $100,000 freight bill.
Resources New Zealand Ltd's shipment of sawn timber was bound for markets in the Middle East after being loaded in Napier, but never made it.
In the Auckland High Court Associate Judge David Abbott said he found Resources New Zealand had not established it should not pay the $101,306.26 MSC invoice, reported Stuff.co.nz today.
Rena charterer Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) had said freight costs were due once the carrier had received the goods and it took legal action demanding the money last year.
Resources New Zealand said it disputed the debt, as the contract implied the goods would be delivered safely.