Another Korean yard in financial straits

A small South Korean shipbuilder Seko Heavy Industries has “temporarily” closed its facilities “due to management difficulties”, local media reports and a pair of 300 ton class goliath cranes, leased from Industrial Bank of Korea, are now being dismantled after a public sale. The shipbuilding company was acquired KY Heavy Industries in 2007 and made a new start in 2008.


With employees totalling about 160 and 250 outsourced workers, it has built three ships including a 20,000 dwt chemical tanker 'Royal Stellar'. But in the wake of the financial crisis, it got a C grade in credit risk evaluation in March 2009 and went into work-out in September of the same year. Seko's main creditor Shinhan Bank refused to offer a refund guarantee for the shipbuilder's new ship order and the contract came to be cancelled. Employees also failed to receive up to six months of wages and shipbuilding has ground to a halt since September last year when employees submitted their resignation all together.
(Source:http://www.seatrade-asia.com)