Court to auction Fujian Crown Sea Shipping bulker
Xiamen Maritime Court has announced that it will hold an auction for Fujian Crown Sea Shipping’s handymax bulk carrier Guan Hai 308 via online platform Taobao at the request of CITIC Asset Management on April 17.
Crown Sea Shipping pledged the vessel to CITIC Asset Management in a financing deal, with CITIC deciding to sell off the vessel after the company failed to make repayment.
The starting price for the 48,000dwt vessel is RMB47.11m ($6.8m). If the vessel is sold in the auction, Crown Sea Shipping will only have one vessel left in its fleet, the 80,000dwt panamax Guan Hai 228.
Fujian Crown Sea Shipping was once a major private shipping company in Fujian province, but it has been suffering from financial difficulties and been involved in a series of debt disputes since 2015.
The company suspended operations of its subsidiary yard Fujian Crown Ocean Shipbuilding in November 2015, leaving a large number of employees unpaid.
In 2016, a Fuzhou court tried to sell Crown Sea Shipping’s 20% equity shares in Shanghai Baojiang Shipping via auction, however, all three auctions failed due to there being no bidders.