Hong Kong's maritime community was weighing the impact on its operations after Sanko Steamship, Japan's fourth-largest shipping company, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, four months after trying to seek a deal with creditors.
The filing came 27 years after Sanko made a similar application, only emerging from a court-mandated reconstruction programme in 2000.
Wah Kwong Maritime Transport is among the shipowners affected by the problems at Sanko, while two other firms are also supplying crew and looking after the day-to-day running of several Sanko ships.
Wah Kwong owns a US$140 million supertanker, the 298,000 deadweight tonne (dwt) Trikwong Venture, in partnership with Sanko. The ship was delivered in January and chartered to Dalian Ocean Shipping, an offshoot of mainland shipping giant Cosco for five years.
The Cape Victory, a 177,934 dwt iron ore and coal carrier owned by Wah Kwong and Taiwan's U-Ming Marine Transport, is also on charter to Sanko for five years.
Asked about the impact on the company, Wah Kwong chief executive Tim Huxley said: 'It's too early to say ... No doubt more will emerge in the next few days. Our exposure is limited compared to others as we have a fairly diverse fleet of ships and portfolio of charterers.'