Danish offshore shipping company, World Marine Offshore (WMO), filed for bankruptcy with the Court in Esbjerg on 6 January.
John Sommer Schmidt, a lawyer at the Gorrissen Federspiel firm, has been appointed to oversee the bankruptcy proceedings.
Schmidt told Denmark’s Finans that WMO had filed for bankruptcy due to the company recording losses for several years, major shifts within the management, disputes among the owners, and a DKK 130 million (around USD 19 million) lawsuit filed against the company by a former partner in the USA.
Schmidt added that efforts are underway to sell the company and its assets and that certain players within the shipping market have shown interest.
Established in 2012, WMO operates a fleet of 11 crew transfer vessels (CTVs) in Europe and four CTVs in Taiwan.
Back in 2021, WMO entered into a partnership with Taiwan’s U‐Ming Marine Transport Corporation to jointly establish U‐Ming Marine Offshore Company Limited (UMO) and pursue opportunities in the Taiwanese offshore wind market.
Last year, WMO placed an order with Norway’s Umoe Mandal AS for two Wavecraft™ crew transfer vessels, and entered into bareboat charter agreements for two similar vessels owned by the Umoe Group. Three of the four vessels were to be deployed on Ørsted’s offshore wind farms.