Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Singapore Court News

28 Oct 2021

Singapore Court Dismisses Oil Tycoon Family's Appeal Against Ocean Tanker Suit

© anekoho / Adobe Stock

Singapore's highest court has dismissed an appeal by oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin and his two children after they were successfully sued for breach of fiduciary duties by the court-appointed managers of a company they once owned.Lim is the founder of defunct Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd and Ocean Tankers, once one of Asia's largest oil trading and shipping firms, which both went under judicial management in 2020, after oil prices collapsed."The entire conduct of this litigation has led to an immensely unsatisfactory state of affairs…

24 May 2021

Lim Family's Global Assets on Radar After Singapore Court Move

© tempakul / Adobe Stock

A Singapore court has approved a freeze on up to $3.5 billion of assets of the family behind collapsed Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, boosting the prospect of debt recovery from the former oil trading empire that counts some of the world's biggest banks among its creditors.Hin Leong was wound up in March after failing in a year-long effort to restructure more than $3 billion in debts after the COVID-19-led oil crash laid bare huge losses. Founder Lim Oon Kuin admitted in a court document…

19 Oct 2020

Ocean Tankers Looks to Return Most Ships to Owners

Illustration - Credit: anekhoho/AdobeStock

The court-appointed manager for Ocean Tankers Pte Ltd has applied to the Singapore court to return most of the ships the company manages to the shipowners, as cash is running low and Ocean Tankers will not be able to maintain the fleet, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.If successful, the move will allow Ocean Tankers, the chartering arm of embattled oil trader Hin Leong Pte Ltd, to resume its cash-generating business such as its oil lubricants business, for which a sales process is underway…

17 Sep 2020

Report: Seven Xihe Holdings Tankers Up for Sale

The supervisor of Singaporean shipping group Xihe Holdings Pte Ltd has put seven oil tankers controlled by the company up for sale as part of efforts to recoup funds owed to creditors, three sources said on Wednesday. Xihe Holdings is part of the Lim family business empire, which also includes oil trader Hin Leong Trading and fleet manager Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, both of which were placed under court-appointed supervisors earlier this year.The sale includes three crude oil supertankers and is expected to get fully underway in the coming days, the sources said.The ships were valued at a total of just over $196 million, according to vessel…

17 Aug 2020

Ocean Tankers Seeks to Reclaim $19 Mln from Lim Family

The court-appointed manager of Singapore Ocean Tankers (Pte.) Ltd is seeking to reclaim about $19 million from the Lim family directors of the firm, who allegedly transferred the funds from the shipping company to their accounts in April, court documents show.The interim judicial managers from EY said the Lim family "breached their fiduciary duties" by transferring the funds when Ocean Tankers was insolvent.Ocean Tankers, owned by Oon Kuin Lim, founder of embattled oil firm Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, and his daughter Lim Huey Ching, was placed under interim judicial management on May 12.The EY managers said in a statement of claim filed…

14 Aug 2020

Singapore Court Appoints Supervisor for Xihe Holdings

The Singapore High Court has appointed Grant Thornton Singapore as the supervisor of Xihe Holdings Pte Ltd and four of its subsidiaries, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.The court decision followed an application by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC) to place Xihe Holdings and the subsidiaries under the business adviser's supervision.The subsidiaries involved are Da Xin Tankers (Pte) Ltd, Hua Guang Shipping Pte Ltd, Nan King Maritime (Pte) Ltd and Hua Xin Shipping Pte Ltd and these units together own five ships.Xihe Holdings is part of the Lim family business empire, which also includes oil trader Hin Leong Trading and fleet manager Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd…

11 Aug 2020

How Venezuela Lost Three Supertankers to Its Chinese Partner

A shipping joint venture between Venezuela and China has fallen apart in the wake of U.S. sanctions, resulting in the South American nation losing three supertankers at a time when foreign shippers are reluctant to carry its oil, court documents show.PetroChina Co Ltd, which had been state-run Petroleos de Venezuela’s partner in the Singapore-based joint venture CV Shipping Pte Ltd, took control of the three tankers between January and February, according the documents from a Singapore court reviewed by Reuters.The transfer of the Junin, Boyaca and Carabobo very large crude carriers (VLCC) has not been previously reported.It came after U.S.

12 May 2020

Ocean Tankers Placed Under Court-appointed Supervisor

Two EY executives in Singapore have been appointed interim judicial managers of Ocean Tankers, the accounting firm said on Tuesday, following a Singapore court hearing to consider the shipping company's request to appoint independent managers.Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd (OTPL) is owned by the Lim family which also owns Singapore's oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, itself placed under judicial management in April as it seeks to restructure billions of dollars of debt.Under judicial management, a court appoints independent managers to run the affairs of a financially distressed company in place of existing management, a move that is often…

31 May 2018

IM Skaugen Files for Restructuring in Singapore

Norway-based owner of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers IM Skaugen has filed for restructuring in Singapore seeking court protection from its creditors. "We wish to announce that I.M. Skaugen SE (IMSSE), together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, SMIPL and IMSPL filed applications to the High Court of the Republic of Singapore on 31 May 2018 for a moratorium to commence the reorganisation of liabilities and businesses of the IMS Scheme Companies," said a press release from the company. With the filing of the Scheme Moratorium, the IMS Scheme Companies automatically qualify for protection from the Singapore Court under a 30-day moratorium that will apply against creditors' claims.

09 Jan 2018

Oil Heist Uncovered at Shell's Biggest Refinery

Police say 17 arrested in connection with oil theft; 11 charged; Shell expects "short delay" in operations due to case. Eleven men were charged in a Singapore court on Tuesday in connection with a large-scale oil theft at Shell's biggest refinery, while police said they were investigating six other men arrested in a weekend raid. Police in the island-state said on Tuesday they had detained 17 men, whose ages ranged from 30 to 63, and seized millions of dollars in cash and a small tanker during their investigations into theft at the Pulau Bukom industrial site, which sits just south of Singapore's main island. Oil refining and shipping have contributed significantly to Singapore's rising wealth during the past decades.

25 Jan 2017

Singapore Court Fines Unlicensed Bunker Craft Operator

New Ocean Maritime Pte Ltd was convicted in court under regulation 64(b) of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (Port) Regulations and was fined a total of $81,000. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) brought charges against New Ocean Maritime Pte Ltd for providing services in the port of Singapore without a bunker craft operator licence between 3 January 2015 and 28 March 2015. New Ocean Maritime Pte Ltd was also found to have used the bunker craft operator licence that was issued to Seaquest Tanker Pte Ltd for providing services in the port. Seaquest Tanker’s bunker craft operator licence was revoked by MPA last year on 26 April 2016 for the company’s involvement with New Ocean Maritime.

08 Aug 2016

Court Orders Swiber to Stop Payment of Bank Guarantees

File photo: Swiber

Swiber Offshore Construction, part of troubled Singapore oilfield services firm Swiber Holdings, has received an interim court order to halt payment of bank guarantees for projects it was involved in, a stock exchange filing showed. Parent company Swiber Holdings last month applied to place itself under judicial management, after initially filing for liquidation, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices. Judicial management allows for a company to be nursed back to health under the supervision of the Singapore Court.

29 Jul 2016

Swiber Applies for Judicial Management Instead of Liquidation

Photo: Swiber

Singapore oilfield services company Swiber Holdings Ltd said on Friday it has applied to place itself under judicial management instead of liquidation. Swiber shocked markets earlier this week by filing for liquidation, as it faced hundreds of million of dollars in debt and a decline in orders, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices. Judicial management allows a financially-distressed company the room to return to financial health under the…

21 Oct 2015

Ship Engine Claims add to Volkswagen's Woes

Skaugen seeks about $50 mln from VW marine unit MAN; says MAN sold engines that underestimated fuel use. MAN also has counter-claims against Skaugen. Norwegian shipowner I.M. Skaugen has disclosed it is seeking $50 million in compensation from a marine unit of Volkswagen for rigging performance tests of ship engines produced over a decade ago. I.M. Skaugen alleges that the specifications of the six engines it bought from MAN were misleading and it is seeking compensation for higher fuel use than specified over the expected 30-year lifetimes of the engines. VW now owns 75 percent of MAN Diesel and Turbo SE, although it was not an owner of MAN when the engines were made. MAN supplied the engines to Skaugen in 2002-03 and has legal counter-claims over contracts with Skaugen.

18 Nov 2014

OW Bunker to Meet Liquidator; Ship Arrests Continue

OW Bunker owes financers more than $750 million-creditor data; six more vessels arrested; 7 in total. The Singapore arm of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker will meet with its liquidator KPMG in early December to discuss the firm's outstanding debt, which totals almost $1.5 billion globally. OW Bunker, a leading supplier of marine fuel oil known as "bunker", filed for bankruptcy in Denmark earlier this month after it revealed losses of at least $125 million at one of its Singapore-based subsidiaries Dynamic Oil Trading, sending the bunker fuel market into turmoil. Oil firms have stepped up legal action against OW Bunker's Singapore units since the announcement with the arrest of ships, now totalling seven, Singapore court documents show.

29 Jul 2013

Legal Spat Settled Mainly in Favour of Sembcorp Marine

The Court of Appeal in its judgment today ruled that certain provisions in the Joint Venture Agreement between Sembcorp Marine and PPL Holdings premised on equal shareholding no longer applied when Sembcorp Marine increased its shareholding from 50% to 85% in PPLS. The Court of Appeal, however, did not agree that Sembcorp Marine had the right to terminate the Joint Venture Agreement. The cross appeal by PPL Holdings, including their claim to the right to appoint the Managing Director, was dismissed entirely. The Court of Appeal also ruled that certain resolutions passed by Sembcorp Marine’s nominated PPLS directors were valid and not in breach of the provisions in the Joint Venture Agreement. The Sembcorp Marine nominated PPLS directors’ removal of Mr.

06 Jan 2013

Rig Accommodation Provider Seeks Court Protection

Equinox Offshore Accommodation Ltd. faced with a winding-up petition for a US$600,000 claim, applies to Singapore Court for 'judicial management'. The Board of Equinox Offshore was not able to resolve the matter relating to the winding up petition, and resolved to apply for the appointment of judicial management of the Company. A hearing for the judicial management will be fixed by the Court in due course and in the period from application until the date of the hearing there will be a moratorium in place which means that no steps can be taken up to wind up the Company. Legal proceedings or execution of judgments against the Company cannot be commenced or continued unless there is prior leave of the Court.