Astoria log operation. Photo by Jeff Smith, ILWU Local 8.

Westerlund is loading its third ship, the Panamanian-flagged Loch Maree, for Murphy’s. Before that, Westerlund loaded 18 shiploads of logs for CNBM and bound for China. Photo of previous Astoria log operation by Jeff Smith, ILWU Local 8.

Murphy’s Overseas USA, known locally as Astoria Forest Products, filed suit in early March to protect itself from an escalating conflict between its new customer Westerlund Log Handlers and parts of a Global Fortune 500 company China National Building Materials (CNBM).

The complaint claims that CNBM contacted Murphy’s, stating it had a security interest in Westerlund’s accounts. It demanded that Astoria Forest Products pay CNBM instead of Westerlund.

“We have buyers in Korea,” said Murphy’s lawyer Mike Esler. “The concern we have is that if Westerlund goes out of business … that we won’t be able to ship our logs. As we became more aware of the CNBM issue, we made sure that we’d be able to continue shipping logs.”

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