German ship owner and project cargo specialist Beluga yesterday filed for insolvency protection for Beluga Chartering.
This follows the sudden resignation of its founder and CEO Neils Stolberg on a leave of absence after he and six senior managers were charged with fraud in a German court.
German ship owner and project cargo specialist Beluga yesterday filed for insolvency protection for Beluga Chartering.
This follows the sudden resignation of its founder and CEO Neils Stolberg on a leave of absence after he and six senior managers were charged with fraud in a German court.
The company chose the insolvency route after talks with banks and tonnage providers broke down. As a result more than 40 chartered container and multipurpose ships have been withdrawn from the Beluga stable after dissatisfaction with Beluga’s main investor, US company Oaktree Capital Management, which took control of Beluga several weeks ago.
Prior to the latest development, the founder and owner of the company along with six of his senior managers had been charged with fraud in a Bremen court after an investigation dating back to 2009. If found guilty they could face sentences of up to ten years in prison.
Stolberg and his six senior officers face charges of having misled investors since 2009 by falsely recording revenues that total ‘in the hundreds of millions’. According to reports US company Oaktree Capital Management invested US$ 280 million in Beluga in equity in July 2010. When Beluga asked Oaktree for additional money, Oaktree obliged but also conducted investigations which led to the discovery of financial irregularities regarding turnover and company liquidity.
Beluga operates with a fleet of about 65 ships and has another nine vessels under construction.
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