Zeamarine is closing its operations in Denmark. The Danish subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy resulting in the closure of two offices and 23 employees being sent home, confirms local liquidator Hafnia Law.

The German breakbulk carrier has two offices in Denmark, one in Naevsted and one in Aarhus, but both offices have now been closed following the opening of the bankruptcy procedure.

With this latest development, half of Zeamarine’s European offices are now either insolvent or closed. In February, the company announced that the Zeamarine Germany, Zeamarine Chartering and Zeamarine Bremen had moved under court supervision and subsequently filed for insolvency for the office in Bremen.

The headquarters in Hamburg and the office in Antwerp, however, are still operational, both offices confirm.

Restructuring ongoing

It’s not clear what the future will hold for Zeamarine. In December, the company entered into a restructuring process which so far saw the shipping company reduce its fleet, sell the Americas business and close half of its European offices.

Two possible scenarios are that the company will continue in a slimmed-down form or be wound up completely. The outcome likely depends on the Zeamarine’s ability to secure agreements with its creditors. The company declined to comment on the matter while the restructuring process is ongoing.

Intermarine

The sale of Zeamarine’s Americas business has led to the revival of the U.S. shipping brand Intermarine, which disappeared from the market when it merged with Zeaborn to form Zeamarine in August 2018.

Intermarine now operates three services between the U.S., South America and the Caribbean and manages nine vessels ranging in deadweight from 6,000 to over 11,000 tonnes. The largest of the nine vessels has a lift capacity of up to 400 tonnes.

The restructuring process of Zeamarine is the largest in the breakbulk industry since the bankruptcy of Beluga Shipping in 2011. Before Zeamarine began its restructuring, it was listed as the fourth-largest multipurpose vessel operator in the world in Dynamar’s top-10 of global MPV-operators.