THE Shanghai Maritime Court has seized an Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) over legal claims related to the Second World War, London's Financial Times reported, citing a statement on the court's website.

The ship had been moving Australian iron ore to China's flagship steel mill Baosteel.

Japan denounced the confiscation. The Chinese foreign ministry called the case "a common commercial contract dispute." For many years China discouraged wartime claims by its citizens against Japan, but no longer does so amid escalating tensions between the two countries.