Ow Bunker News

The former manager of marine fuel supplier OW Bunker's Singapore subsidiary said on Tuesday he would appeal the 18-month jail term he was sentenced to last month, his lawyer told Reuters.On May 30, a Danish city court found Lars Moller, former head of Dynamic Oil Trading in Singapore, guilty of granting credit outside his mandate, contributing to OW Bunker's bankruptcy.Moller's defense lawyer said on Tuesday, that they would appeal the verdict and aimed for him to be "fully acquitted".The 2014 bankruptcy of the firm, then the world's leading supplier of bunker fuel with a 7 percent market shar

A Danish court on Wednesday sentenced the former manager of OW Bunker's Singapore subsidiary to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of granting credit outside his mandate, contributing to the bankruptcy of the marine fuel oil supplier.The 2014 bankruptcy of OW Bunker, then the world's leading supplier of marine fuel oil with a 7 percent market share, sent shockwaves through the global shipping industry and left investors and business partners scrambling to cover their losses.The city court of Aalborg said it found Lars Moller…

A group of 24 Danish institutional investors in OW Bunker has decided to issue a writ against Carnegie and Morgan Stanley, accusing them of misleading investors ahead of the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier.   The investors, which include two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, claim they have suffered a loss of 767 million crowns ($123 million) following investment in OW Bunker shares "on the basis of a prospectus which was insufficient in material aspects".   Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while Carnegie said it did not know the details of the alleged claim.   Reporting by Stine Jacobsen

Institutional investors to sue Morgan Stanley, Carnegie. A group of institutional investors in OW Bunker said they plan to sue Morgan Stanley and Carnegie for about $80 million, accusing the two investment banks of misleading them ahead of the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier. Denmark's OW Bunker was valued at $1 billion when it floated in March 2014, but the company filed for bankruptcy in November that year after suffering hedging losses of almost $300 million, sending shockwaves through the global shipping and oil trading industry. "We are planning a lawsuit against the two investment banks involved in the OW Bunker IPO," Erik Bomans, partner in Deminor Recovery Services representing 30 institutional investors, told Reuters on Thursday.

Denmark's general prosecutor said on Thursday it had charged a former Singapore unit manager of Denmark-based OW Bunker with fraud.   The prosecutor said the former manager, a Danish citizen, has been charged with committing fraud of agent for more than 800 million Danish crowns ($122.79 million) by granting credit outside his mandate.   The prosecutor also said it did not find legal grounds for criminal prosecution of other management members within the OW Bunker group, the world's biggest marine fuel supplier before it went bankrupt in 2014.   Reporting by Stine Jacobsen

Three of the world’s largest bunker suppliers, including World Fuel Supplies and Dan Bunkering, have joined a team of industry experts to review BIMCO’s standard bunker contract – BIMCO Terms 2015. Shipowners will be represented by Denmark-based J Lauritzen and Norden. Legal and P&I input comes from Clyde & Co and the North of England P&I Club. The initiative is supported by the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) who will have a representative on the team. BIMCO Terms 2015 are increasingly accepted by suppliers and traders around the world as a fair and balanced set of terms and conditions for purchasing and delivering marine fuels.

International law firm Wikborg Rein has further strengthened its leading presence in the shipping and offshore and onshore construction sectors with the appointment of three key senior hires to its London offices. Nick Shepherd has joined as a partner from Ince & Co, where he was most recently the head of that firm’s office in Piraeus, Greece. Nick has a market-leading reputation as an 'owner's lawyer' for the Greek shipping market, where he is the first-choice lawyer for a number of the largest shipping groups, including TMS / Dryships / Ocean Rig (Mr George Economou); the Navios Group (MAngeliki Frangou); Alpha Bulkers / Pantheon Tankers (Mrs Anna Angelicoussi); and Marmaras Navigation / Delta Tankers (Mr Diamantis Diamantides).

A group of 26 institutional investors has issued a summons against bankrupt Danish ship fuel supplier OW Bunker in the latest stage of a legal campaign for allegedly misleading them in its 2014 initial public offer (IPO). The investors had said last year they would sue Bunker, private equity fund Altor and the company's board over their responsibility for the company's flotation prospectus, after the company filed for bankruptcy just months after listing. The investors, which include two of the largest pension funds in Denmark…

As widely reported in the maritime press, the United Kingdom's Supreme Court has granted an expedited hearing to Product Shipping & Trading's case against the collapsed OW Bunker (the Res Cogitans). The hearing will take place on 22 March in London and will deliver the final English law verdict on whether many hundreds of shipowners should pay OW Bunker's assignee ING Bank or pay the physical suppliers. In October 2015 it was held by the Court of Appeal that the UK Sale of Goods Act 1979 did not apply to contracts signed with OW Bunker as an intermediary for the supply of bunkers on credit.

A new consultancy established by well known industry veteran and leading marine energy expert Adrian Tolson, was launched Tuesday. A new consultancy, 20|20 Marine Energy, was launched to help companies create and implement strategies for purchasing and selling marine energy, as well as supporting the development of bunkering infrastructure. In a changing market of increasing risk and complexity, 20|20 works with ship owners, operators and financial institutions on the buy-side, fuel suppliers and traders on the sell-side, as well as ports, and local and national governments on developing infrastructure projects. The company also provides research and insight services. 20|20 has been established by Adrian Tolson, one of the industry’s leading marine energy experts.

A group of 27 Danish institutional investors say they will launch a legal action against the former management of OW Bunker, a shipping company that filed for bankruptcy last year just six months after listing, and the private equity firm that brought the company to market. The Danish investors including two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, with assets of more than $165 billion have sued OW Bunker for 800 million Danish crowns ($120 million). The first case is against OW Bunker, its management and its owner, private-equity company Altor Funds. The second case claims that OW Bunker failed to disclose information at the appropriate time, in accordance stock exchange rules.

A group of Danish investors have sued OW Bunker for 800 million Danish crowns ($120 million) for misleading them in its initial public offer (IPO), after the ship fuel supplier filed for bankruptcy just months after listing. The 27 institutions, including two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, with assets of more than $165 billion, filed two lawsuits, they said on Friday. The company, which had been valued at $1 billion when it floated at the end of March, came to grief in November 2014 after suffering hedging losses of almost $300 million. The first case is against OW Bunker, its management and Altor Funds, the private equity fund that owned the company before listing it, regarding their responsibility for drawing up the prospectus for the flotation in March 2014.

Levels of sound enterprise and business risk management are currently satisfactory in the shipping industry, a new survey from Moore Stephens has revealed. But the international accountant and shipping adviser warns that companies that fail to embed effective risk management procedures into their daily activities are likely to pay a high price in today’s tightly regulated and highly competitive industry. The inaugural Moore Stephens Shipping Risk Survey, which will be updated annually, sought to gauge how effectively enterprise and business risks are being managed in the shipping industry, and to analyze how key risks are being handled by companies.

Risks faced by today’s global businesses represent a combination of traditional concerns and newer threats that reflect changing times. The 2015 Allianz Risk Barometer, a survey of more than 500 corporate insurance experts and risk managers from 47 countries, revealed that issues related to business interruption and supply chain risk, natural catastrophes, and fire and explosion continue to top annual rankings. However, cyber risks, which include cyber crime, IT failures, espionage and data breaches, along with political risks were the most significant movers.

Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited announced its interim results for the six months ended December 31, 2014, reporting steady growth over the period. During the period, profit attributable to the owners of the group increased 3% year-on-year to HK$561 million. Basic earnings per share amounted to 6.41 HK cents, up 3% from a year ago. Total revenue climbed 11% from HK$40.3 billion in 1HFY2014 toHK$44.9 billion for the period as the twin-engines business model (upstream and mid-downstream businesses) enabled the group to secure steady growth amid volatile oil prices.

International accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens said today that companies in the offshore maritime sector need to keep a close watch on costs and manage their exposure to risk in the wake of the dramatic fall in oil prices. “It is remarkable how quickly the dramatic fall in oil prices has fed through to increasing levels of financial stress in the oil and gas services industry, where the sudden drop to around $50 a barrel is triggering cost-cutting across much of the sector…

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) noted an improvement in bunker quality from across the marine fuels supply chain thanks in part to a campaign launched by the association. Addressing an audience of more than 1,000 marine fuel buyers, suppliers and traders at the association’s annual dinner in London last night, IBIA Chairman Jens Maul Jorgensen said that the early results for 2015 show that there has been a marked improvement in bunker fuel quality with 8% of samples found to be off-spec compared with 10% in 2014. These results are based on samples taken by testing company Intertek ShipCare. “Test figures for standard…

Glander International Bunkering continued a series of hires in its Dubai office today, announcing the hiring of Kristian Korsgaard Pedersen as the office's Senior Bunker/Lubricant Trader and Team Leader. On Monday, the company announced the hiring of Luis Cañizales as an office Bunker and Lubricant Trader. Pedersen, originally from Denmark, has worked in the bunker industry for over 16 years. He was the Sales Manager at O.W. Bunker Middle East DMCC when the firm declared bankruptcy in November of 2014 (a bankruptcy now under investigation by Denmark's largest pension fund).

Denmark has arrested a former manager of collapsed ship fuel supplier OW Bunker and intends to hand him to Italy, where he is suspected of fraud, the Danish public prosecutor said on Thursday. A statement from the prosecutor's office did not disclose any details. Danish daily Berlingske reported earlier this week that the arrested person and five others had cheated the Italian navy out of 7 million euros ($8.6 million) for fictitious bunker fuel delivered from a non-existent vessel. OW Bunker, which had been valued at $1 billion when it listed at the end of March in the second largest Danish flotation since 2010, came crashing down last month after losing almost $300 million which it blamed on hedging losses and fraud.

Aegean Marine to commence operations in the Gulf of Mexico; assumes charter agreements for two vessels. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. will commence immediate marine fuel supply operations in the Gulf of Mexico. In support of its operations, the company has also assumed the contracts for two oceangoing bunkering tankers previously under charter to OW Bunker and expects to purchase the fuel on board. E. Nikolas Tavlarios, President of Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, commented…

International accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens says shipping needs to adopt a can-do attitude in order to successfully meet the challenges which are likely to come its way in 2015. Moore Stephens shipping partner Richard Greiner says, “Shipping confidence started 2014 on a six-year high and ended it on a two-year low. It is difficult to predict with any certainty what the next 12 months will bring, beyond further uncertainty. To paraphrase an old adage, shipping goes into 2015 needing to accept the things it cannot change, to change the things it can change, and to make sure it understands the difference between the two. “Top of the list of things which shipping cannot change is the relentless march of regulation.

Shipping firms have paid millions of dollars into U.S. accounts to prevent their vessels from being detained due to non-payment of bills for fuel supplied by the bankrupt OW Bunker, indicating the impact from the collapse of the Danish firm was spreading. OW Bunker filed for bankruptcy in November after losing almost $300 million in alleged fraudulent trading in Singapore, leading to claims by distributors who sold shipping fuel on behalf of OW Bunker but had not been paid. Some 13 cases involving bunker bills totalling about $12 million have been filed at New York's southern district court, a maritime lawyer said. U.S. court documents seen by Reuters show 11 firms…

BP Singapore kept its spot as a top marine fuel supplier by volume for the eleventh straight year in 2014 at the world's biggest bunkering port, the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said. MPA does not specify the volumes each supplier sells, but traders pegged the oil major's sales at around 400,000 tonnes a month, or about 10 percent of the country's monthly sales. Overall Singapore sold 42.4 million tonnes of marine fuel last year. This is slightly behind the sales volume achieved in 2013 at 42.7MT. Bunker traders sources have attributed the drop to more efficient use of ship-fuel systems, such as slow steaming and the slowdown of economic activities in Asia. While BP maintained its first position, the second to fifth positions remained unchanged from last year.