Bankruptcy comes closer for Murmansk Shipping Company

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The company that previously accounted for a lion’s share of goods shipped thought Russian Arctic waters faces potential grim prospects as a powerful oil company this week filed a bankruptcy petition in the Murmansk Arbitration Court.

Gazpromneft Marine Bunker has a demand of 8,3 million rubles (€110.000), Interfax reports. The subsidiary of Gazprom Neft supplies marine fuel and oils for sea and river vessels and is well well represented in the Russian Arctic region.

The Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCO) today has a fleet of at least 20 vessels, most of them dry cargo ships. The company was established in 1939 and privatized in 1993. Until 2005, it operated the Russian fleet of nuclear icebreakers.

The company’s market share in Arctic shipping has gradually decreased as several key natural resource developers in the region either have developed their own ice-class vessels or turned to other shipping companies.

The claim from the Gazpromneft Marine Bunker is not the first against the Murmansk company. In April this year, GAC Shipping and Logistics took the MSCO to court over another multi-million ruble debts, Sud51.com reports. The shipping company was also last year in a corporate conflict with another regional company, the Arctic Mining Company