London: China’s Winland Ocean Shipping last week filed for filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, another casualty of worsening conditions in the dry cargo market.
“Due to current market conditions, the financial position of the company and its subsidiaries has deteriorated, leading to immediate difficulties,” court documents filed by Winland in Texas stated on February 12.
Two of Winland’s vessels were arrested in Singapore and China in September and December last year due to unpaid loans.
Today the Baltic Dry Index fell to 509 points, the sixth consecutive trading day that the index has reached a new all-time low. Rates across all segments continue to fall, apart from in the panamax market, which has shown steady growth for over a week
Earlier this month, Danish dry cargo shipowner Copenship also filed for bankruptcy, citing poor market conditions.
Croatian bulker owner Atlantska Plovidba has just posted an operating loss that has more than doubled over last year. Its loss was HRK 41.5m ($6.13m) for the year-end 2014, compared to HRK 18.3m ($2.7m) in 2013.
