Asia/Pacific News
GP Global Bunker Barge Arrested for Second Time in India: Reuters
A second arrest warrant for a bunker barge owned by oil trader GP Global was issued in India last week, according to news agency Reuters.
The High Court of Gujarat gave permission to Celestial Ship Management, the Singapore-based manager of the vessel, to arrest the bunker barge GP B3 on September 10, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing court documents. Among the registered directors of Celestial are spouses of GP Global directors Prerit Goel and Manan Goel, the news agency said.
The court documents stated the arrest was over unpaid dues. A GP Global representative declined to comment, Reuters said.
The previous day the ship was arrested at the port of Pipavav on behalf of the vessel's mortgagee, National Bank of Fujairah.
The tanker had been waiting off Fujairah before coming to India last month, according to shipping intelligence service VesselsValue.
GP Global's bunker business has been largely paused as the company seeks new backing from its lenders.
At the start of August the company announced it had hired Rod Sutton as chief restructuring officer, as well as bringing in UK-based firm Quantuma to assist with its restructuring.
The previous week the company's lawyers released a letter to clients saying it had uncovered a fraud by some of its employees in the UAE, leading to criminal charges against some of them.
GP Global was assessed as one of the world's top ten bunker companies for 2020 in a joint report by marine credit company SeaCred and Ship & Bunker last year.
