OW Bunker Employees on the Move Again

By The Maritime Executive 03-12-2015 02:06:16

More than half of a South Korea-based marine fuel trading team taken on by Swiss trading house Mercuria following the collapse of OW Bunker has left after just over three months, two trading sources said on Thursday.

The traders who have left are now in talks to join World Fuel Services, the largest marine fuel trader in South Korea after OW Bunker's bankruptcy, the sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

WFS and Mercuria could not be immediately reached for comment.

Mercuria absorbed nearly 40 people from OW Bunker, which had controlled around seven percent of the global shipping fuel market, including 15 staff in South Korea and a team in Singapore as it looked to beef up its marine fuel, or bunker fuel, business.

The teams joined Mercuria's stand-alone unit Minerva, which specializes in marine fuel, but nine of the South Korea employees had now left, the source said.

They included manager Joon Kim and five senior traders overseeing the South Korea, Japan and Chinese markets.

Kim was expected to be joined by three administrative staff, the source added.

OW Bunker filed for bankruptcy in Denmark in November after revealing losses of at least $125 million.

South Korea sells up to 600,000 tons of fuel a month, about a fifth of monthly sales in Singapore, the world's top bunkering hub.

Copyright Reuters 2015.