A bankruptcy judge in New York agreed to recognize shipper Daebo International Shipping Co.’s foreign bankruptcy proceeding, which will help protect the company’s U.S.-based assets from creditors while the Korean dry bulk ship operator restructures abroad, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Following a hearing Friday, Judge Michael E. Wiles signed off on the shipping company’s request for chapter 15 protection. The judge’s order follows an agreement Daebo reached with a group of creditors over one of its ships, named Daebo Trader. The vessel was seized by court order Feb. 15 while it was docked in New Orleans, after a stevedoring company brought claims of about $1.6 million against Daebo for unpaid stevedoring services, or the loading and unloading of cargo. At least three other creditor lawsuits have been filed against Daebo, seeking a total of more than $1 million in claims secured by the ship, court papers show. Under the agreement approved by Judge Wiles, Daebo posted a special bond of $3.85 million that will be used to pay any successful creditor claims and allow the Daebo Trader to deliver a shipment of soybeans and to avoid further losses. Read more. (Subscription required.)
For more information on cross-border proceedings, be sure to pick up a copy of ABI’s Chapter 15 for Foreign Debtors.
