O.W. Bunker Holding case venue transfer hearing pushed back to May 27

By Kali Hays

New York, April 27 – O.W. Bunker Holding North America. Inc.’s hearing to consider the transfer of its bankruptcy case to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York from the District of Connecticut has been continued to May 27, according to a Monday court entry.

As previously reported, the company and its official committee of unsecured creditors asked for the venue transfer at the end of December due to the overlapping nature of maritime and bankruptcy law in O.W. Bunker’s case.

The company claimed that remaining in Connecticut “will create enormous added costs and uncertainties for all parties in interest” and a transfer to New York’s bankruptcy court will also afford O.W. Bunker access to a district court, which maintains exclusive jurisdiction over maritime law, according to the motion.

O.W. Bunker said it has received numerous interpleader actions in several district courts and additional proceedings related to “the arrest or potential arrest of seagoing vessels.”

“The movants believe that the best way to mitigate these expensive inefficiencies is to consolidate all of the pending interpleader proceedings and the Chapter 11 cases in one jurisdiction such that a district court judge in such district could simultaneously exercise both maritime and bankruptcy jurisdiction over these proceedings,” the motion stated.

If the transfer is allowed, the company said that “no party will be prejudiced” and that it will maintain a small staff in Connecticut to wind-up its affairs.

“There is no reason to believe that transfer would delay adjudication of any party’s claims and every reason to believe the timing would be quicker and expense would be less,” the motion stated.

O.W. Bunker is an independent distributor and reseller of marine fuel and is based in Denmark. Its U.S. subsidiaries filed bankruptcy on Nov. 13 under Chapter 11 case number 14-51720.

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