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Flinter pushed to the edge of bankruptcy by ING

Flinter Group, one of the top ten largest shipowners in the Netherlands, is on the ropes. The multipurpose shipowner has been rocked by compatriot bank ING’s decision to stop funding. ING had been providing loans for nine of the 35 ships in Flinter’s fleet. ING has frozen a number of Flinter bank accounts forcing the owner to the edge of bankruptcy.

Flinter had asked ING to get the nine vessels sold, ideally not by auction, but the bank rejected the proposal.

“We are extremely sad about all this. In our opinion there are only losers: our staff on shore and on the vessels, the owners of the vessels and Flinter, the many partners and suppliers that support the vessels in the recent years with better payments terms etc. It is also expected that the bank will lose millions,” Flinter said in a release on its website.

The company is now seeking permission from a number of creditors to delay payments on other loans.

As well as being an owner, Flinter, founded in 1989, is a shipmanager.

“After 8 years of fighting hard it is sad that our journey ends here,” Flinter management said in a release on its site.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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