P+S Shipyards insolvent

The P+S shipbuilding company said Wednesday that it had run into liquidity problems after talks with creditors and suppliers failed earlier this week.

According to the insolvency court in Stralsund, P+S Chief Executive Rüdiger Fuchs had filed for a planned insolvency, meaning that the CEO was seeking to remain in the post to engineer procedures in collaboration with a court administrator.

As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, P+S Shipyards has been struggling to get bank funding for a series of ships on its order books.

The group, which runs shipyards in the Northeastern German port cities of Stralsund and Wolgast, was already bailed out in 2009 with a 48-million-euro ($60 million) rescue package granted by the regional state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

In 2012, the group has experienced new liquidity problems after the authorities stopped a second rescue that would have been worth 152.4 million euros.

In addition, Swedish ferry operator Scandlines - the company's main customer - has stopped payments for two unfinished ferry boats, after P+S refused to disclose information about their state of construction.

Scandlines also refused to participate in the emergency talks with creditors and suppliers, which P+S had hoped would ease the company's financial problems.

On Wednesday, it was unclear whether the shipyard group could be rescued again and how many of its more than 2,000 staff might keep their jobs.

uhe/msh (dapd, dpa, Reuters)