Shipping tycoon Helge Mogster and other DOF shareholders will lose everything after banks moved in and began bankruptcy proceedings.

The new board of the Oslo-listed offshore vessel shipping giant admitted defeat on Wednesday night after a last-ditch $2.25bn debt-for-equity financial restructuring plan was scuppered by a lack of support from rebel investors.

Shipping operations have been spun off into a new holding company, DOF Services, which will continue business as usual under the ownership of lenders.