OceanConnect Marine Secures Arrest of Former Hanjin Chartered Vessel

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday December 20, 2016

OceanConnect Marine (OCM) has been successful in its efforts to arrest a box ship formerly chartered by Hanjin, sources familiar with the matter have told Ship & Bunker.

Earlier this year OCM lodged a claim in the U.S. against the 4,590 TEU capacity Seaspan Efficiency seeking to recover $837,000 in unpaid bunker bills.

While Hanjin's vessels, including those under charter, are protected from arrest under the terms of its bankruptcy protection, a claim was filed by OCM in October after it was reported in the media that the vessel was to be returned from its charter.

New Jersey District Judge Kevin McNulty denied that claim, saying: "The court will entertain an application in which the plaintiff presents competent evidence of the current charter status of the vessel. That evidence, however, is not currently before me."

OCM filed a motion of reconsideration, but looked to have given up pursuing the claim, at least in the U.S., after it was dismissed on December 2 following a failure to file the appropriate Notice of Appeal.

But sources familiar with the matter have now told Ship & Bunker the vessel was arrested in Sri Lanka and subsequently released after Seaspan posted a bond.

As Ship & Bunker noted in an earlier Vessels Value scrapping report, Seaspan Efficiency was sold for demolition on August 25, 2016, while the latest AIS data shows the vessel is currently underway to Bhavnagar, India.

It is understood the 2003-built box ship will ultimately be broken in Bangladesh.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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