WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department says Maersk Line Limited has agreed to pay the US government $31.9 million to settle allegations of overcharging the Pentagon for transporting thousands of shipping containers from ports to destinations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maersk is a wholly owned American subsidiary of Denmark-based AP Moller-Maersk.

The company allegedly inflated invoices for refrigerated containers holding perishable cargo at a port in Karachi, Pakistan, and at US military bases in Afghanistan. It also allegedly billed for container delivery delays improperly attributed to the US government and billed for GPS-tracking and security services that were not provided or only partially provided.