Romline News

Romania's Maritime and Commodities Exchange (BMMMC), in the Black Sea port city of Constanta, will hold an auction to sell a 2,600 dwt ship this month. The auction for the Iosif S bulk carrier had been scheduled for April 21 with a starting price set at $290,000. The shipowner, private local shipping company Iosif S, bought the vessel - previously named Medias - from the state-owned shipping company Romline several years ago.

Romania's government reportedly allocated funds for the safe operation of ships belonging to state-run Navrom and Romline shipping companies and to rotate and repatriate their crews.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, liquidator of Romanian state-run shipping company Navrom Constanta, said it sold six Navrom-owned cargo vessels at an auction in the Black Sea port of Constanta. A PricewaterhouseCoopers statement said the six ships, with capacities ranging from 2,800 dwt to 4,800 dwt had been sold "as are, where are" for a total of $1.44 million. Last year, a court in Constanta launched bankruptcy procedures against Navrom due to unpaid debts worth tens of millions of dollars. PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed liquidator of company assets. Some 320 ships sailed under Navrom flag before the 1989 collapse of communism. In 1999, the company operated less then 20 ships.