U.S. Shipping disclosure statement approved, but more detail requested

By Alice Popovici

New York, Aug. 13 - U.S. Shipping General Partner LLC's disclosure statement for its plan of reorganization was granted court approval conditional on several modifications, according to a Thursday hearing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

More detail is needed on the avoidance claims and claim consolidation issues, judge Robert Drain said during the proceedings.

"I assume that certain information that is not provided here will, in fact, be provided in the plan supplement," Drain said.

However he rejected requests from the creditors committee to add more detail on the company's marketing efforts, assets and values or its liquidation analysis.

The objection deadline has been set for Sept. 8 and the deadline for voting on the plan of reorganization is Sept. 22.

Drain suggested the company, the creditors committee and lenders use the window of time between those two dates to resolve their disputes, which "will certainly save the estate the cost of resoliciting."

Attorneys for the company and the creditors committee began the hearing by saying that, despite last-minute negotiations, more time was needed to reach an agreement.

"We spent hours yesterday," commented Craig A. Wolfe of law firm Kelley, Drye & Warren, an attorney for the creditors committee.

"I think it makes absolute economical sense to do this on a consensual basis, but I think we're just not there yet," Wolfe told the court.

U.S. Shipping is an Edison, N.J.-based provider of long-haul marine transportation services. It filed for bankruptcy on April 30 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Its Chapter 11 case number is 09-12711.

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