Growth in a free global market requires outperforming the competition. Although the bank ING seems to think that the Flinter Group is not keeping up with the competition and has made a decision to stop funding, and has frozen a number of the Flinter bank accounts. ING has been providing loans for 9 of the 35 ships in Flinters Fleet. The bank sees no other option other than to sell the vessels. The exact means of selling the assets / vessels has not been confirmed. The option of an auction would be the last resort.
The Flinter group is one the top ten largest ship owners in the Netherlands and are primarily Dutch-flagged and therefore comply with stringent Dutch maritime legislation. Flinter has been coping with the decline in global trade for the last 8 years and has said on their news brief editorial on their website that the journey ends here. As well as being an owner, Flinter is also a ship manager and was originally founded in 1989.
The Flinter group is now seeking other options to restore the relationship, for the best interests of everybody.
Photo Credit kjb - vesseltracker.com