Thursday, August 9, 2012

Sign of the Times: World’s Oldest Shipper Declares Bankruptcy




Reuters’ Jonathan Saul reports that Britain's oldest shipping firm, Stephenson Clarke Shipping Ltd, has gone into liquidation after nearly 300 years of trading, becoming a casualty of the worsening global downturn.

Established in 1730, Stephenson Clarke had tried to sell its ships and cut costs in the face of crashing rates for dry bulk shipping on which it relied - transporting cargoes such as coal, grain and iron ore.But liquidator Tait Walker was appointed on Aug. 3, the company and liquidator said in a statement.

"Whilst previous economic downturns have been weathered, the current market is one of the worst experienced for many years with no upturn forecast for at least 12 to 18 months," a spokesman for the company said....


No comments:

Post a Comment