AsiaOffshore

Banks seek GOL Offshore fleet sell-off

Compounding a miserable week for GOL Offshore after two of its ships were impounded in the UK over unpaid salaries, a bank has now been granted the right to sell six of the firm’s ships. A court in Mumbai has given DVB the go ahead to sell six OSVs controlled bby GOL Offshore, formerly known as Great Offshore Ltd, in a bid to recover outstanding loans.

Two state-run lenders—Exim Bank of India and Punjab National Bank (PNB)—have filed separate winding-up petitions in the Bombay high court seeking to liquidate the company’s assets to recover loans.

GOL Offshore was formed when the offshore division of Great Eastern Shipping was spun off into a separate company in October 2006.

Earlier this week a pair of its ships were detained in the UK over unpaid salaries to crews, something that sparked a British trade union official to decry the conditions onboard as “modern day slavery”.

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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