Tanker operators file against Winson Oil in latest Hin Leong fallout
SINGAPORE - Maersk Tankers Singapore Pte Ltd and Scorpio LR2 Pool Ltd have filed separate claims in the Singapore High Court against Winson Oil Trading Pte Ltd for failing to fulfil its contractual obligations, court documents show.
The filings are the latest fallout in the unravelling of Hin
Leong - once one of Asia’s top oil traders - which has left creditors
scrambling to recoup about $3.5 billion in debt.
Hin Leong’s collapse has triggered competing claims for
cargoes and assets and ensnared firms such as Maersk Tankers and Marshall
Islands-based Scorpio in protracted legal proceedings in Singapore.
Winson had chartered an oil tanker from each of the shipping
companies to load gasoil cargoes from Taiwan in February 2020. It later ordered
them to transfer the gasoil to facilities held by the now defunct Hin Leong
Trading, without providing the original bills of lading (BL), the court
documents showed.
Maersk Tankers and Scorpio LR2 Pool said in their court
statements that Winson had issued them Letters of Indemnity (LOI) for the
discharge of the respective cargoes that lacked the original BL’s, which Maersk
said it was obligated to accept under its prevailing ship hire agreement with
Winson.
According to the court documents, the LOI guaranteed that
Winson would provide sufficient funds to cover any claims, or avoid any ship
detentions, resulting from delivering the cargoes without the original BL’s - a
contract for the movement of the cargo and a document of title.
A spokesman for Winson Oil Trading said it “intends to
vigorously defend” and “have every confidence in the outcome” of both cases but
will not make any further comments until the court has issued its decision.
Maersk Tankers and Scorpio are now facing hefty claims and
potential ship arrests from banks which claim entitlement to the gasoil cargoes
transported aboard the tankers that Winson chartered, according to the
documents obtained by Reuters.
After issuing the LOIs to each of the ship operators, Winson
ordered Maersk Tankers to discharge the gasoil cargo at Hin Leong’s Universal
Terminal in Singapore and instructed Scorpio’s ship to discharge some of its
gasoil cargo into a Hin Leong tanker offshore Malaysia, according to the court
documents.
In February this year, United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB)
issued Maersk Tankers a letter of demand alleging it was the lawful holder of
part of the cargo discharged into Universal Terminal, and began proceedings to
arrest its vessels.
The following month, Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation
Limited (OCBC) informed the owners of the Scorpio-operated ship that the bank
was the lawful owner of the gasoil cargo it transferred on Winson’s orders to
Hin Leong Trading, and that it held them fully liable for the loss of the $13.6
million cargo.
In their respective statements, both ship operators said
that Winson has “failed, refused and/or neglected” to provide the necessary
funds claimed by the banks for the respective gasoil cargoes and to prevent the
arrest of their vessels as stated in the respective LOI’s.
Maersk Tankers is demanding Winson offers nearly $41 million
in security to UOB to prevent the arrest or detention of its vessel, while
Scorpio is seeking guarantees of $16.9 million to OCBC, the court document
said.
The pre-trial conferences for both cases are set for June 10
in the Singapore High Court.
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