Yu v STX Pan Ocean Co Ltd (South Korea)

Chun Il Yu, as the foreign representative of STX Pan Ocean Co Ltd, applied to the Federal Court of Australia for provisional relief in respect of the company's assets in Australia. The company, a South Korean shipping corporation, had commenced rehabilitation proceedings in South Korea, and Mr Yu sought to prevent Australian creditors from arresting or attaching the company's assets in Australia and interfering with its ability to trade. The court was required to decide whether the orders sought by Mr Yu should be made. The court found that the company did not have assets permanently situated in Australia but its vessels regularly called into Australian ports. There was a risk that Australian creditors could arrest vessels in Australian ports, which would prevent the company from trading and likely result in its liquidation. The court also found that one creditor had already arrested one of the company's vessels in Queensland. The court found that it was appropriate to make the orders sought by Mr Yu to protect the company's assets in Australia and its ability to trade. The court ordered that the administration and realisation of all of the company's assets located in Australia be entrusted to Mr Yu. The court also ordered that no person may enforce a charge on the property of the company, and no proceeding in any court against the company, or in relation to any of its property, may be begun or proceeded with. The court further ordered that the owner or lessor of property used or occupied by, or in the possession of, the company, cannot take possession of the property or otherwise recover it, and that no enforcement process in relation to property of the company may be begun or proceeded with. Finally, the court ordered that Mr Yu must publish and notify creditors of the making of this order.