The oil cargo originally belonged to the Swedish company, but the cargo had been confiscated by the West African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.
The island state then sold the 10,000 tonnes of oil for half the market price to the Danish company, which thus made something of a bargain.
The small island state in the Gulf of Guinea had originally confiscated the oil from two ships, which due to bad weather had been sought close to the islands when the oil was to be transhipped.
The authorities and courts of the island state believed that there was smuggling, sentenced the captains to prison and took over the valuable cargo.
Later, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that the confiscation was contrary to international law.
During the trial in Denmark, Stena Oil has claimed that it was almost state-practiced piracy.
But in Tuesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court writes that completely extraordinary circumstances must be met before a buyer of confiscated goods can be sentenced to be liable for damages in relation to the original owner.
This may be the case, for example, in the case of state-sponsored piracy, but there is no evidence to that effect, the judges believe.
Source: The Nordic Page