Daebo Files for Bankruptcy Protection in US

Korea’s shipping company Daebo International Shipping Co. filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on Monday seeking to protect its assets from seizure.

The decision has been triggered by attempts of Houston-based stevedoring company Richardson Stevedoring & Logistic Services Inc to seize Daebo’s Daebo Trader vessel, the Wall Street Journal writes.

The vessel was seized in the middle of February in New Orleans after Richardson Stevedoring took its claims for unpaid services worth USD 1.6 million to court.

Daebo has requested for the seizure order to be lifted in order to deliver its cargo of soybeans to its owner and avoid further losses, claiming that its vessels should be protected under bankruptcy code.

The company is facing over USD 1 million in additional claims from at least three other creditor lawsuits, the newspaper said citing court documents.

The Chapter 15 request is to be discussed at a hearing proposed for April 6.

Daebo filed an application for rehabilitation proceedings on 11 February 2015 in Korea, which are similar to the Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States, allowing the company to survive while being restructured.

World Maritime News Staff