SINGAPORE, May 21 -- A prominent Singapore shipping executive and six Chinese nationals have been accused by United States authorities of conspiring to fix global shipping container prices during the Covid-19 pandemic, in a case that allegedly fuelled soaring freight costs and generated massive profits for some of the world's biggest container manufacturers.

According to court documents unsealed in the US on May 19, executives from several container manufacturing firms allegedly colluded from late 2019 to restrict the production of dry shipping containers, a move prosecutors said artificially drove up prices during the global supply chain crunch. The Straits Times (ST) first reported the case.

Among those named is Singapore shipping vet...