OW Bunker, the world’s largest fuel supplier, collapsed earlier this month after it claimed that it had lost almost $300 mill in hedging losses and unauthorised credit lines given in Singapore.
Fleet manager Henrik Pedersen told Reuters that the takeover by Alba Tanker, which has the trustees of the bankrupt company on its board, was part of the process of securing assets for the estate.
“We are not a very big part of the company,” Pedersen told Reuters. “We’re the shipowning part of OW Bunker and Trading. And that was our biggest client, of course, but we have always been run as a separate company.”
OW Tanker owns 10 vessels and chartered 19, according to its website. Pedersen said it employs around 115 people, mostly vessel crews and is now looking for new clients.
In another move, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said it had agreed with ING Bank NV and OW Bunker’s trustees to work together in recouping some $750 mill the company owes to a group of 13 banks, including ING, Reuters reported.