Lithuanian Shipping Company Files for Bankruptcy

Lithuania’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has filed for bankruptcy proceedings of Klaipeda-headquartered bulk shipping company PC Lithuanian Shipping Company.

The Ministry, which owns 56.66 percent of the company’s shares, filed with the District court of Klaipėda petition for initiation of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings amid ongoing financial troubles that plunged the bulker owner and operator deep in debts.

“Currently, most of the company’s financial commitments are overdue. The Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, acting in implementation of LSC shareholder rights and obligations, applied to the court in accordance with the article 9 part 7 of Republic of Lithuania Enterprise bankruptcy law that states that bankruptcy proceedings shall be initiated when the enterprise is insolvent i.e. when the enterprise fails to discharge its obligations and the overdue liabilities of the enterprise are in excess of half  of the value of the assets entered in the enterprise’s balance,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The move comes following the company’s denial of media speculations on filing for insolvency that emerged as Lithuania’s Transport Minister Rimantas Sinkevicius claimed that the company ”should go bankrupt” so as to stop accumulating losses because the devastating bulk market was showing no signs of recovery.

The state-owned company which employs 237 workers has been piling up losses since 2008, and the accumulated loss currently stands at EUR 20 million, according to Sinkevicius. The company’s inability to pay its debts led to several arrests of its vessels by different claimants.

As informed, the first arrested LCS ship Deltuva has returned to Lithuania from the port of Gdansk.

“19 people are coming back to the shore. We are making efforts to resolve the issue of repatriating seafarers on board of other LSC vessels in the short time,” said Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania Saulius Girdauskas on Thursday.

The Ministry said that the funds which will ensure that all arrested LSC vessels are provided with fuel and other necessary measures have been transferred.

The company’s 16,883 dwt general cargo ship Raguva and its crew of 20 was recently detained in Senegal’s capital Dakar, while another company’s cargo ship – the 17,786 dwt Romuva – was detained in Italy due to unpaid fuel and service bills.

World Maritime News Staff