U.S. Shipping Partners Enters Bankruptcy Protection

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Apr 2009

U.S. Shipping Partners LP, a New Jersey-based carrier of petroleum products, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York. The company, based in Edison, New Jersey, listed $717.4 million in assets and $606.5 million in debt in its Chapter 11 petition filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. It filed with 26 affiliates. U.S. Shipping Partners said Jefferies & Co. was its largest unsecured creditor, with a $2.25 million claim related to trade debt. The company has fewer than 1,000 creditors and indicated that it expects unsecured creditors to receive a recovery.
In March, U.S. Shipping Partners’ lenders approved a forbearance agreement, saying they wouldn’t take action after the company missed debt payments.
A transporter of oil, petrochemicals and commodities, U.S. Shipping follows Armada (Singapore) Pte, London-based Britannia Bulk Holdings Inc. and its Danish unit, Denmark Britannia Bulkers A/S, in seeking court protection after a 92 percent plunge in commodity shipping rates last year.
The case is In re U.S. Shipping Partners LP, 09-12711, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Source: Bloomberg