Florida-Based Shipping Line Sells Its Ships, Assets
Posted on: Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 21:00 CST
By Doreen Hemlock, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jan. 25--Great Western Steamship Co., a financially troubled shipping line that runs operations from Port Everglades, is selling its seven ships and other assets to help pay off creditors.
The company filed an "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors" in Florida state court Jan. 17, an alternative to U.S. bankruptcy filings such as Chapter 11 reorganization or Chapter 7 liquidation.
Attorney Michael Phelan of insolvency specialists Michael Moecker & Associates has been appointed as assignee in the case, the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm said in a statement Monday.
Phelan aims to sell off Great Western's assets within three months. The company's seven ships and its 5,000-plus shipping containers are valued at more than $100 million, he estimated.
To handle the sale, Phelan has retained most of Great Western's 15 employees in Broward and Palm Beach counties. He hopes they will find jobs with the new buyers of the company's assets.
Founded in 1986 and based in Tequesta, Great Western served the U.S. east coast from Port Everglades and the U.S. west coast from Los Angeles, with additional services in Hong Kong. The shipping line ran into financial problems because of growing competition and consolidation in the maritime industry and from rising fuel costs.
The move to file an "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors" in Florida follows recent changes in U.S. bankruptcy laws make it more costly and time-consuming for companies to seek protection from creditors under Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code, Phelan said.
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Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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