Home Sector Shipyards Sungdong Shipbuilding officially placed under court receivership April 23rd, 2018 Jason Jiang Asia, Shipyards

South Korea’s Changwon District Court has officially put financially trouble shipyard Sungdong Shipbuilding under receivership on Friday.

According to the court, auditor Deloitte Anjin will carry out due diligence on to determine the company’s value of liquidation and its going concern value.

The court decision follows Seoul ruling in March that Sungdong Shipbuilding will file for court receivership and chang its business to focus on ship repair and possibly block building.

Sungdong, which was founded in 2003 and had grown to be a reputable mid-sized shipyard in South Korea, started having financial difficulties in 2010 after the global financial crisis. After surviving on government subsidies for 8 years, the government finally decided to have the bankruptcy court take over the shipyard.

Another major South Korean shipbuilding STX got its self-rescue plan accepted by creditors, which withdrew a plan to place the shipyard under court receivership. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The government has bowed to pressure to raise the 6,825 tonne vessel (there is no sound on this video)

A ferry has been raised from the sea bed, three years after it sank in one of South Korea's deadliest disasters.

The Sewol sank off the south-western island of Jindo on 16 April 2014 killing 304 people, almost all school children on a trip.

It has been winched to the surface so a platform can be inserted under it for it to be towed ashore.

It is expected to arrive at port in less than two weeks, where it will be met by the families of victims.

Image copyright Hankook Daily via Getty Images Image caption Raising the vessel was one of the key demands of the families of the victims

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The complex operation is one of the largest ever attempted

The bodies of nine victims are believed to still be trapped inside the sunken ship, and raising it was one of the central demands of their families.

The government bowed to pressure to raise the 6,825 tonne vessel, one of the most complex operations ever attempted, said the the BBC's Stephen Evans on Jindo Island.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Relatives of the victims watched the salvage operation off the Jindo island

The 16-year-old daughter of Huh Hong-Hwan was one victim whose remains were never found.

"To see the Sewol again, I can't describe how I'm feeling right now," Mr Huh told the AFP news agency as he watched the raising of the ship from a boat nearby.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Hundreds of workers in a Chinese salvage team were involved in the raising

The sinking was blamed on a combination of illegal redesigns, cargo overloading, the inexperience of the crew member steering the vessel, and lax government regulations. The ship's captain was later convicted of murder.

Image copyright Reuters/Korea Coast Guard Image caption Former President Park Geun-hye came under intense pressure over the sinking at the time

Anger over the response of the authorities after the disaster contributed to the unpopularity of former President Park Geun-hye, who was recently ousted.
South Korean shipbuilding firm Sungdong collapses into receivership after surviving on government aid for eight years.