OW Bunker (OW) with a reported 7% share of the marine fuel supply market went out of business almost overnight, filing for bankruptcy on 7 November 2014.
The rapid collapse of Denmark-based OW followed the revelation of an alleged serious fraud within its Singapore subsidiary, Dynamic Oil Trading. As a result, shipowners and charterers around the world currently face a number of problems such as who to pay and threat of arrest. We have received a number of similar enquiries relating to these issues. Our advice is to take a cautious approach and not make payment to any party without first consulting your Defence insurer or taking legal advice. This Alert is intended to provide some guidance to Members and clients,including:
- When and to who should an owner/charterer pay?
- Can the physical supplier of the bunkers arrest the vessel?
- Should owner load bunkers under charterer’s orders known to have been supplied by OW?
- What preventive steps can be taken when an owner is on notice of a supply of bunkers ordered from OW by a time charterer?
- Does the bankruptcy include OW’s subsidiaries/offices worldwide?
- Bunker quality beware!
Please note these are general comments on some of the issues that could arise. For specific queries we recommend that owners/charterers contact their Defence insurers and/or seek legal advice.
See attached file:
OW Bunker declared bankrupt.pdf
Gard保赔协会关于丹麦宝运石油宣告破产的相关建议
丹麦宝运石油公司(以下简称 “OW”)，占据全球7%的海上燃油供应市场，却几乎在一夜间倒闭，于2014年11月7日申请破产。
OW新加坡子公司 Dynamic Oil Trading 涉嫌严重欺诈后，总部位于丹麦的OW迅速崩溃。导致全球船东和租家面临诸多问题，例如，向谁支付油款以及扣船威胁。协会收到大量类似问题的咨询，我们的建议是，谨慎处理，在向您的抗辩险保险人咨询或得到法律意见以前，不要向任何一方付款。本文旨在向会员和客户提供一些指导，包括:
- 船东/租家应该在什么时候，向哪一方支付油款？
- 燃油实际供应商可以扣船吗？
- 如果发现燃油由OW提供，船东还应该按租家指令加载燃油吗？
- 如果船东得知，期租租家从OW订购燃油，船东可以采取哪些防损措施？
- 破产涉及OW在全球的子公司/办公室吗？
- 注意燃油质量！
请注意，本文仅提供可能发生的某些问题的一般建议。具体咨询，建议船东和租家联系其抗辩险保险人，或寻求专业法律建议。
详细信息请参阅附件。
