An elderly handymax bulker that suffered a fire during what was supposed to be a brief call at the Malaysian port of Penang to drop off a cargo of fireboard has been auctioned as scrap.
The judicial sale of the 48,200-dt Kmax Pro (built 1997) brings to an end a long-running legal dispute between the vessel’s Hong Kong-based owner, Brave Worth Shipping, and Bumi Jaya Salvage & Engineering, which was engaged to salvage it.
Although damage was largely confined to three cargo holds, the ship’s age and long period of non-use made it an unlikely trading sale candidate despite a bullish dry bulk market.
The bulker is listed on the latest recycling reports as having been auctioned to recycling buyers on an “as is” basis for an undisclosed price
The Kmax Pro’s troubles began on 27 October 2022 when its cargo of fireboards caught fire. Port authority tugs helped extinguish the blaze, but the volume of water pumped into the three cargo holds affected by the blaze led to it grounding off Butterworth wharf No 2 at Penang Port.
Bumi Jaya Salvage was brought in to refloat the bulker under the terms of a wreck removal contract. This was successfully carried out and full payment was made.
A subsequent contract was signed between Brave Worth and Bumi Jaya Salvage to lighten the vessel by removing the undamaged cargo from the two unaffected holds, along with the cargo from the affected holds.
This second contract, signed on a Bimco Wreckstage 2010 form, was priced at a lump sum of $1.65m, with a 50% advance payment due within three days of contract signing.
Bumi Jaya, in later legal filings, claimed that it never received the full advance payment despite sending repeated reminders. Nevertheless, it proceeded to undertake the work.
The salvage company said it carried on lightening the ship to the point where it could not continue because Brave Worth had failed to sign a contract with an industrial waste disposal contractor to dispose of the damaged cargo as required by local authorities.
Removing any more cargo would also negatively affect the stability of the vessel, it said.
Furthermore, it claimed that although Brave Worth had made two partial payments of $100,000 and $450,000 on 31 January 2023 and 27 February 2023, it did not pay the remaining $275,000 of the advance payment and that matters had reached an impasse.
In January, the Singapore High Court issued a summary judgment in favour of Bumi Jaya Salvage for $287,375.
The Kmax Pro’s operational tenure with Brave Worth was short, as the company had only acquired it in March 2022.
It assigned the technical and commercial management to Marinenet Shipping of China.
