Giuseppe Bottiglieri Files for Creditor Protection
Italian cargo shipowner Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Co. SpA has filed for court protection while it works on a restructuring plan reports WSJ.
The Naples company cited "the unprecedented world freight market crisis" that has weighed on profits across the industry. Giuseppe Bottiglieri said it has prepared a new business and financial plan that is now under discussion with creditors.
With 15 ships flying the Italian flag properties, the company accounts for 7% of the carrying capacity of the Italian fleet. Giuseppe Bottiglieri operates 11 dry-bulk carriers and four petroleum product tankers with an estimated value of $190 million. It wasn't known how many were at sea or the value of the cargo they moved.
The company expects to continue operating while it talks with creditors and that as of now “no enforcement proceedings of whatsoever nature against the company have been made by financial creditors, suppliers, charterers, crew, employees or by any other creditor.”
A bankruptcy filing would be the first such move by a major shipping company since South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. last year.
