Door No. 15 for STX PO
STX Pan Ocean has filed for Chapter 15 in the US, making it the second Asian shipowner to file for bankruptcy protection in this country on the same day.
The South Korean bulker player, which has already filed for court receivership proceedings in Seoul, is asking a New York bankruptcy court judge to recognise the proceedings at home.
The filing, lodged by law firm Blank Rome on behalf of trustees You Sik Kim and Chun Il Yu, comes after the company has seen several arrests by bunkerers and charterers in recent weeks.
As TradeWinds has reported, at least seven ships owned or chartered by the South Korean shipowner have been arrested in Singapore, New Zealand and the US.
Blank Rome partner Jeremy Harwood has asked for a preliminary injunction putting a halt to US lawsuits and arrests.
In documents submitted to the US bankruptcy court, STX Pan Ocean reported having more than KRW 6.88 trillion ($5.96bn) in assets and more than KRW 5.01 trillion in debt as of 31 December.