Two HNA Group affiliates are on opposite sides of a financial dispute after the botched handover of a containership from Zhoushan-based Jinhai Intelligent Manufacturing.

Legal, financial and commercial sources told TradeWinds that the 11,568-teu MSC Bianca (built 2019) was delivered with construction debt unpaid and arrested at sea by coastguard vessels before it could leave Chinese waters.

The ship was ninth in a 10-ship order by Oslo-based SinOceanic Shipping for long-term charter by Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC).