Win for Taiwan Shipping Firm
TMT shipping line announced that a US judge has ruled that the Taipei based Shanghai Commercial Bank mustcooperate with the TMT and stop its arrest of the 37,000 ton bulkcarrier, C Handy.
This follows a similar ruling last month on TMT vessel B Handyand shows that the TMT creditor banks are now willing to adopt a more consensualapproach in their relationship with the Taiwanese shipping line.
The Taiwanese company Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT) is seeking to restructure its business using American Chapter Elevenlegislations which allows companies to keep operating during financial difficulties.
Nobu Su, the owner of the TMT shipping line, has argued that it makes moresense for his creditors, including the Shanghai Commercial Bank, to allow him tokeep trading and thus earn money to settle his debts.
Now US District Judge Lynn N Hughes sitting in Houston, Texas where TMThas extensive business interests has ordered the Taiwanese Shanghai CommercialBank to cease its arrest of the C Handy, a modern two-year old Hyundai built vessel,and allow Nobu Su’s money held in a retention account to be used to pay for bunker, crew and other charges so that the C Handy can start trading again. The bank did notoppose the move.
The sitting lasted only one hour and Su hailed the decision “as a welcome stepforward in my efforts to keep Taiwan in the forefront of the shipping business despitethe wish of many other European shipping lines to see me closed down as acompetitor coming from Asia. I welcome the fact that the banks are now seekingconsensus and I will work with them in that spirit.”
In London this week Su met with cargo brokers and traders from Antwerp andImmingham who expressed their hope that his C Ladybug cargo ships would soon beback as business as freight rates had risen by up to 25 per cent in the absence ofcompetition from TMT.
Nobu was told that people had lost their jobs in Antwerp because maneuvers byone creditor bank was still delaying C Ladybug’s release.
A TMT spokesperson said: “There are cargoes ready to go to Africa and Asiafrom Antwerp and Immingham and cargo agents keen to work with TMT so thatprices can come down to normal. The delaying actions by one of our creditors banksis a problem we shall work hard to overcome. “
According to the TMT announcement,TMT representatives are set to meet shortly with senior Flemish politicians fromfirms outside Europe using the Belgian legal system to stop TMT from trading. Mr Sucontinues to support financially the crew members of the C Ladybug who havesuffered great hardship as they are held almost as prisoners on their ship because ofthe action by one bank in faraway Taiwan.
In London 17th September, Nobu Su signed an important new contract for TMTso that one of his tankers, C Elephants, has been chartered by Chevron to carry crude.
TMT had blamed banks for causing ‘hardship’ for crew of MV C Ladybug, following the media reports of starving sefarers. Learn more in the Safety4Sea articles
- TMT blames Banks for Continued Detention of MV C Ladybug
- Report of starving Chinese crew members proves untrue
