Croatia's biggest shipbuilding group is heading into liquidation.
Creditors decided in a meeting at the Commercial Court in Pazin on Wednesday that holding company Uljanik will be wound up.
The company controls Uljanik Shipyard and other units. Another group shipbuilder, 3 Maj, has not been part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Pula-based Uljanik did not meet the conditions needed to resume operation, according to official receiver Marija Ruzic.
She said the company was not generating any revenue and that its liabilities of HRK 4.85bn ($723m) considerably exceeded its assets of HRK 1.75bn, according to the Hina news agency.
No grounds for bankruptcy plan
Ruzic recommended that creditors formally decide that there were no grounds for the preparation of a bankruptcy plan; that the company stop operating; and that they decide on the method and terms of realising its assets.
All three votes were passed by more than 90% of the creditors.
A decision on whether ships will continue to be built at Pula ultimately rests with the government, which earlier refused to bail the group out.
The company entered bankruptcy proceedings last year, as did Uljanik Shipyard, after running into financial problems.
These came to a head in May following worker strikes over unpaid wages and cancellation of ship contracts by owners like Siem, Jan de Nul and CLdN Cobelfet.
Investors failed to put in money
Investors from China were sought to no avail and the group was delisted in Zagreb in November.
Clarksons lists Uljanik as building a dredger for its own account, due in March, plus a 5,250-lane-metre ro-ro for KTZ Express and a second 228- berth cruiseship for Australia's Scenic Cruises. These are due this year and in 2021, respectively.
The Croatian state decided to issue guarantees for a $22m loan from the state-owned development bank HBOR to 3 Maj to allow it to complete vessels.
Canada's Algoma Central has revived a previously cancelled bulker order there as a result.
