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O.K. Lim and two children sued for USD 3.5billion; receiver appointed for 3 Xihe ships

KPMG has been appointed by Maybank to be receiver for Ocean Success, Marine Topaz and Ocean Supreme, reports The Business Times.
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Founder of collapsed Hin Leong Trading (HLT) Lim Ooi Kuin and his two children who are also directors of the company are reportedly being sued by HLT’s judicial managers PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services for breaching fiduciary duties as directors and fraud.

In a court filing, the judicial managers are looking to recover USD 3.5 billion (SGD 4.75 billion) on top of another USD 90 million in dividends which the trio had allegedly paid themselves despite the company being insolvent.

PwC is now accusing the Lim family of “deliberately concealing losses and portraying it (HLT) as a profitable company when in fact it was massively insolvent”, as quoted by The Business Times on Monday (31 August).

The Lims managed to pull this off by creating “fictitious gains to conceal accumulated trading and other losses, the forgery of documents, the manipulation of Hin Leong’s accounts through irregular accounting entries, the overstatement of Hin Leong’s inventory and the obtaining of financing through improper means”.

PwC concluded that in combination, these maneuvers were used to paint a “vastly misleading picture of its financial health to external parties and deceived its lenders into extending financing even though Hin Leong has been insolvent since the financial year ended Oct 31, 2012”.

Lim Ooi Kuin was charged in mid-August over the accounts of fraud and is currently out on SGD 3 million bail. 

Court-appointed managers of Lim family owned Ocean Tankers Pte  Ltd (OTPL) are also in pursuit to recover USD 19 million from the Lim family, who transferred the amount from OTPL to their accounts in April.

Malayan Banking (Maybank), meanwhile, has appointed KPMG as the receiver and manager of a vessel owned by An Ya Shipping, a subsidiary of Xihe Holdings in order to safeguard its interest as creditor, reported The Business Times on Thursday (27 August).

An Ya Shipping, which owns the vessel Ocean Success, has taken out a mortgage with Maybank in 2015. 

Maybank has also made a similar move for two other shipping companies, Xin Guang Shipping and An Xing Shipping, which are also subsidiaries of Xihe Holdings.

The two companies own the vessels Marine Topaz and Ocean Supreme.

Xihe Holdings, the 60% holding company for Singapore-based tanker ship owner Xihe Group of Companies, has been placed under interim judicial managers (IJMs) as creditors supported OCBC’s application for Xihe’s restructuring to be independent of the Lim family. 

While it remains clear how this move corresponds with the IJM arrangement as a whole, The Business Times feels that it is unlikely that court appointed judicial managers Grant Thornton will supervise the sale. 

Related: Argus Media: Trafigura, Gunvor take over Hin Leong fuel oil storage
Related: Managers of Ocean Tankers looking to recover USD 19 million from Lim family
Related: Argus Media: Singapore’s Hin Leong founder charged with forgery
Related: Xihe Holdings placed under IJM as OCBC reverses decision for ‘consensual restructuring’


Photo credit: Peter-nguyen
Published: 31 August, 2020

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Methanol

Chimbusco completes bunkering op of China’s first 16,000K TEU methanol DF boxship

“COSCO SHIPPING YANGPU” was supplied approximately 900 metric tonnes of methanol marine fuel by Chimbusco in Shanghai on 11 May.

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Chimbusco completes bunkering of China’s first 16,000K TEU methanol DF boxship

China Marine Bunker (PetroChina) Co Ltd (Chimbusco) completed a bunkering operation of the first domestically manufactured methanol dual-fuel container ship in Shanghai on 11 May, according to COSCO Shipping on Thursday (15 May). 

COSCO SHIPPING YANGPU was supplied approximately 900 metric tonnes (mt) of methanol marine fuel by Chimbusco at Pier 1 of COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry. 

The operation started on 7 May but was postponed due to unfavourable weather from the Jianghuai Cyclone.

Chimbusco completes bunkering of China’s first 16,000K TEU methanol DF boxship

COSCO Shipping said the operation marked an important achievement in green and low-carbon transformation in shipping, from ship construction and ecological layout of the entire green fuel industry chain of the company. 

Manifold Times previously reported the naming ceremony of China’s first 16,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship, COSCO SHIPPING YANGPU in Yangzhou.

The methanol dual-fuel container ship named was the first in a series of vessels from COSCO Shipping Holdings, constructed by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Yangzhou. 

Related: COSCO Shipping names China’s first 16,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship

 

Photo credit: Cosco Shipping
Published: 23 May, 2025

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Vessel Arrest

Malaysia: MMEA detains Thai tanker off Kelantan after shown suspicious documents

Initial checks revealed that insurance documents and other documents related to the vessel appeared suspicious and all six crew members on board failed to provide valid identification documents.

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Malaysia: MMEA detains Thai tanker off Kelantan after shown suspicious documents

The Kelantan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Thursday (22 May) said it has detained a suspicious tanker at about 100 nautical miles from the Tok Bali estuary on 20 May. 

Kelantan MMEA director, Maritime Captain Erwan Shah Soahdi said an MMEA asset had detained the tanker while patrolling the Malaysia-Vietnam border. 

The vessel was detected after displaying several suspicious signs at around 1 pm before it was successfully detained 20 minutes later.

Malaysia: MMEA detains Thai tanker off Kelantan after shown suspicious documents

“Initial checks revealed the vessel has six crew members, including a captain and all are believed to be Thai citizens aged between 38 and 70,” he said.

It was also found that the insurance documents and other documents related to the vessel appeared suspicious and all the crews on board the vessel failed to provide valid identification documents during the check. 

The case is being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.

 

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 23 May, 2025

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LNG Bunkering

Shell wraps up its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona

Milestone was achieved by Shell’s LNG bunker barge “Haugesund Knutsen” supplying the “Mein Schiff Relax” cruise ship at Port of Barcelona, says Dexter Belmar of Shell.

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May 23, 2025

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Shell wraps up its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona

Energy giant Shell recently conducted its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona, according to Dexter Belmar, General Manager and Head of Global Downstream LNG on Thursday (22 May).

He said the milestone was achieved by Shell’s LNG bunker barge Haugesund Knutsen supplying the Mein Schiff Relax cruise ship.

“Barcelona, one of Europe and the Mediterranean’s leading cruise ports, is also a key LNG bunkering location for Shell as we help more cruise ships transition to lower-emission fuels,” he said in a social media post. 

“A huge thank you to Royal Caribbean Group for their trust, and to Knutsen and Port of Barcelona for their collaboration in making this bunkering safe and efficient.”

Shell wraps up its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona

Belmar said LNG is leading the way as the preferred alternative bunker fuel in the cruise industry. 

“At Shell, we’re proud to support LNG fuelling needs at 26 locations worldwide, including major cruise ports like Bahamas, Barcelona, Canaveral, Everglades, Jamaica, Miami, Singapore, Southampton, and Tenerife,” he added. 

 

Photo credit: Shell
Published: 23 May, 2025

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