A judge has decisively rejected an attempt to halt enforcement of huge fines in a crackdown on reefer charterers and owners for violating US shipping law.

Judge Sharon Gleason of the US Alaska district federal court issued her ruling on 28 September, finding that US charterer Alaska Reefer Management and its owner, American Seafoods Co, with affiliates and counterparties, could not be granted a temporary restraining order to shield them from enforcement by US Customs and Border Protection pending litigation.