Sobelmar lender claims vessel earnings ownership, seeks case dismissal

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, May 29 – Sobelmar Antwerp NV lender HSH Nordbank AG asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut to declare that vessel earnings are not the property of Sobelmar’s estate and asked the court to dismiss the company’s bankruptcy case, according to a Thursday court filing.

As part of the security package for the loans it provided, HSH said the Sobelmar debtors granted a valid assignment over the earnings of each of the vessels in question.

HSH said the company had only a “temporary license” to collect the earnings, which terminated along with the termination of the first loan agreement on Dec. 19.

According to the motion, the earnings are the sole property of HSH under German law.

In addition, HSH said the Chapter 11 case should be dismissed because Sobelmar failed to provide the lender with adequate protection, which is a condition to the company’s use of cash collateral.

“There is a significant risk that the value of HSH’s collateral will be eroded during this bankruptcy proceeding, and the debtors simply do not have anything else to offer to HSH as adequate protection,” the motion said.

Sobelmar, a Brasschaat, Belgium-based worldwide seaborne transportation services company, filed for bankruptcy on March 17. The Chapter 11 case number is 15-20423.

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