What has happened so far in The Blad Foundation dispute against shipping giant Frontline Ltd. according to court documents obtained by The Royal Gazette:

September, 1997 - A Frontline bid to take over rival shipping company ICB voted down by its shareholders who also in January, 1998 moved to block any attempts by Frontline to gain a majority control of shareholder voting rights with the formation of a consortium.

January, 1998 - Frontline withdraws ICB takeover bid although it continued to try and acquire majority control of ICB with stock purchases.

April 15, 1999 - High Tree, a fully owned subsidiary of The Blad Foundation, enters into a Loan, Pledge and Option Agreement whereby it undertakes to use its best efforts to acquire further shares in ICB with payment being made up of both the original share price and additional compensation based on "High Tree's value as a tool to afford Frontline the opportunity of acquiring shares within the consortium".

March 17, 2000 - Arbitration hearings launched against Frontline resulting in The Blad Foundation being awarded a judgment by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for a sum close to $8 millon, including interest and legal costs. The judgment is later upheld by the Swedish Court of Appeals.

October 4, 2002 - The Blad Foundation files an application in Bermuda Supreme Court seeking to enforce an arbitration award made by the Swedish Court of Appeals against Frontline.

May 15, 2003 - Judgment in Bermuda Supreme Court that Frontline pay a sum to the Blad Foundation that, together with interest and costs, is estimated to be in the total amount of $ 8 million. The ruling upholds previous court judgments against Frontline in Sweden.

May 29, 2003 - A statutory demand for payment of the judgment is made on Frontline's registered offices at Par-la-Ville Place in Hamilton.

June 26, 2003 - A wind-up petition is filed by The Blad Foundation against Frontline Ltd. claiming that the Bermuda-based firm is insolvent and unable to pay its debts and should be shut down under the provisions of the Bermuda Companies Act 1981. The petition is made after Frontline fails to honour or dispute a statutory demand for payment of the court ordered judgement of some $8 million. The petitioner also files a request to appoint Mark Smith of Deloitte & Touch as provisional liquidator of the company.

July 7, 2003 - Mareva injunction in the Supreme Court of Bermuda freezes Frontline's worldwide assets at $8 million. The order prohibits Frontline from from dealing with its assets "so as to reduce them below a value able to satisfy the judgment of 15 May, 2003". A similar order was made on the company's Bermuda assets on June 26, 2003. The 7 July order extended the Mareva injunction to the shipping giant on a global basis.

July 10, 2003 - A letter from one of Frontline's lawyers, a Mr. Grunbaum, sets out that the company will not pay the award: "We have been instructed to take every reasonable measure possible in order to prevent enforcement of the award..."

July 25, 2003 - Chief Justice Austin Ward adjourns the wind up petition against Frontline until July 30, 2003 on the basis that the funds have allegedly been transferred into a Conyers Dill & Pearman account on behalf of The Blad Foundation.

July 30, 2003 - The court hears that although Frontline has wired money in payment of the judgement award it has also, in a separate action in Liechtenstein, moved to block CD&P from accessing the millions on behalf of its client. Chief Justice Austin Ward rules shipping giant Frontline should be wound up if it fails to ensure that the petitioner, The Blad Foundation, has received the $8 million in honour of a court judgement against it. The wind up-order is made to take effect on August 8, 2003.

@EDITRULE:

A publicly-traded company, Frontline is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, moved its place of incorporation from Sweden to Bermuda in May,1997. It completed a reverse takeover of Bermuda-based London and Overseas Freighters Ltd. in 1998 and has grown steadily since through a combination of acquisitions and newbuildings to become the largest independent tanker company in the world.

Frontline Ltd. has said in documents filed with regulators that its primary business is the ownership and operation of oil tankers.