Mr. Klaus Glusing, for $903,689.

The action has been brought at Bermuda Supreme Court by Cast (1983) Ltd. and its related company Cast Europe (1983) Ltd.

Nobody in the organisation's hierarchy was immediately available for comment yesterday.

But local lawyer and MP Mr. Julian Hall, who has been hired to defend Mr.

Glusing, said: "This is a claim brought by the Cast group, the details of which we have already seen, which has, in our view, absolutely no substance whatsoever.

"The claim will not only be vigorously defended but should never have been brought to court. It should, instead, have been made subject to arbitration because that's what the agreement between Mr. Glusing and the company provides for.

"We will be making every effort to have the proceedings stayed in favour of on-going arbitration.'' He said that Mr. Glusing is currently pursuing "a substantial claim against the Cast group following the voluntary termination of his position as president and CEO''.

That claim is going to arbitration, said Mr. Hall.

Mr. Glusing resigned as Cast's president earlier this year following reports of dissatisfaction over the way the financially-troubled group was being run.

He was replaced by Mr. Peter Keller, whose appointment was supported by Cast's principal lender, the Royal Bank of Canada.

Despite relinquishing his day-to-day role in the operation, Mr. Glusing remains one of the group's three principal shareholders.

The Cast group is one of the largest container shipping organisations operating in the North Atlantic.

Additionally, the group runs stevedoring terminals in Montreal, Canada; Ipswich, England; and Zeebrugge, Belgium; and trucking operations in Europe and North America.

The privately-owned group employs 1,200 people worldwide and operates 22 offices, including a small Bermuda office.