Four Bunker Barges Seized in Singapore over Unpaid Debt

Posted by Joseph Keefe
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Singapore law firm asks for vessels to be arrested; bunker barges owned by Vermont UM Shipping.
Four marine refuelling barges owned and operated by Vermont UM Shipping Pte Ltd were seized in Singapore on Monday night, according to the website of Singapore's Supreme Court.
Singaporean law firm Rajah & Tann seized the vessels over unpaid claims on behalf of its client, Malayan Banking Berhad, or Maybank, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter who declined to be identified as the person is not authorised to speak to the media.
The source declined to specify the amount of the claims against Vermont UM Shipping.
Rajah & Tann did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Maybank also did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The vessels - the Angel Sun, Angel Moon, Angel Star and Ansheng - were seized on Monday night, according to the Supreme Court website.
The barges for marine refuelling, also known as bunkering, range between 4,999 and 6,964 deadweight tonnes, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon. The vessels are qualified to deliver marine fuel oil and are equipped with mass flow meters, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
Vermont UM Shipping did not respond when contacted for a comment on the seizure.
Vermont UM Bunkering Pte Ltd, a now defunct Singapore-based marine fuels supplier, is a shareholder of Vermont UM Shipping, according to documents from Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.
In April 2016, the MPA stripped Vermont UM Bunkering of its operating licenses after finding discrepancies and wrongful declarations in records kept on board its bunkering vessels.
In November of the following year, Vermont UM Bunkering and three of its executives were charged with cheating as part of a government crackdown on short deliveries of fuel to vessels.
In 2015, Vermont UM was ranked by the MPA as the 18th-largest marine fuel supplier in Singapore by volume.

In 2017, Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, became the first port to mandate the use of mass flow meters for marine fuel oil deliveries to boost transparency. (Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh 

Categories: Contracts Legal Marine Propulsion Ports Finance Fuels & Lubes Barges

Related Stories

Chuditch Gas Field Up for Summer Drilling Ops as Sunda Reshapes Ownership Structure

Chuditch Gas Field Up for Summer Drilling Ops as Sunda Reshapes Ownership Structure

Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action Drillship En Route to Petrobras’ Roncador Field

Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action Drillship En Route to Petrobras’ Roncador Field

China's ENN, Zhenhua Oil Ink LNG Supply Deals with ADNOC

China's ENN, Zhenhua Oil Ink LNG Supply Deals with ADNOC

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Jadestone Submits Field Development Plan for Assets Off Vietnam

Jadestone Submits Field Development Plan for Assets Off Vietnam

Shell Hires Noble’s Drillship for Work in Southeast Asia

Shell Hires Noble’s Drillship for Work in Southeast Asia

ADNOC Signs 15-Year LNG Supply Deal with Osaka Gas for Ruwais Project

ADNOC Signs 15-Year LNG Supply Deal with Osaka Gas for Ruwais Project

Shell Predicts 60% Rise in LNG Demand by 2040 with Asia Leading the Way

Shell Predicts 60% Rise in LNG Demand by 2040 with Asia Leading the Way

Six New Gas Wells in Line for BP’s Shah Deniz Field in Caspian Sea

Six New Gas Wells in Line for BP’s Shah Deniz Field in Caspian Sea

EnQuest to Acquire Harbour Energy's Vietnamese Assets

Current News

ADNOC’s XRG Partnres Up with Petronas for Offshore Gas Block in Caspian Sea

Valeura Energy Greenlights Wassana Oil Field Redevelopment off Thailand

Scarborough FPU's Topsides and Hull Come Together in Major Engineering Feat (Video)

Shell-Reliance-ONGC JV Complete India’s First Offshore Decom Project

The Future of Long-Idle Drillships: Cold-Stacked or Dead-Stacked?

TMC Books Compressors Orders for FPSO and LNG Vessels

MODEC, Sumitomo Partner Up for Delivery of Gato do Mato FPSO

Chuditch Gas Field Up for Summer Drilling Ops as Sunda Reshapes Ownership Structure

EnQuest Bags Two Production Sharing Contracts off Indonesia

Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action Drillship En Route to Petrobras’ Roncador Field

photo

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com