Sasaki bailout

Following the recent cancellation of the order for five-chemical tanker by the Eitzen Group, Hiroshima Bank is formulating a bailout plan for the troubled Japanese shipbuilder Sasaki Shipbuilding. A Japanese shipowner has said that it would purchase three of the five tankers and charter the vessels to Stolt-Nielsen.

A spokesman for the bank said it had decided to bail out Sasaki as its contribution to the region by protecting local employment and in order to let Sasaki retain its advanced technology in building chemical tankers.