With Hanjin Shipping ditched by the Korea Development Bank and seeking court receivership today, another embattled Korean maritime firm has embarked on an overseas tour to quell concerns about its own future.
The ceo of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Jung Sung-leep, is visiting clients across Europe this week to assure owners that the yard is still very much a going concern and all projects will be delivered on time.
The South Korean government has come in for criticism for pumping billions of dollars into ailing shipping lines and shipbuilders in recent months prompting a change in policy whereby state lenders have now said they will let some failing maritime firms fold. DSME has been under creditor led restructuring this year following the slump in newbuild orders and a giant accounting fraud.
“Concern is growing among shipowners on news that creditors may downgrade their credit ratings on Daewoo Shipbuilding by one notch from normal,” a company official told local media. “The trip is designed to dissipate such concern.”
