- Sea Containers Ltd
Sea Containers Ltd. is a
Bermuda -registered company which operates two main business areas: transport and container leasing.In March
2006 the company sold its share ofOrient-Express Hotels Ltd. . Sea Containers Ltd is currently inChapter 11 bankruptcy status in theUnited States [ [http://www.seacontainers.com/dynamic/body.asp?DocumentID=665] ] .History
Yale University graduate and retiredUnited States Navy officerJames Sherwood founded "Sea Containers" in1965 , with initial capital of $100,000 [ [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Sea-Containers-Ltd-Company-History.html Sea Containers Ltd. - Company History ] ] . Over 40 years, Sherwood expanded Sea Containers from a supplier of leased cargo containers, into various shipping companies, as well as expanding the company into luxury hotels and railway trains, including theVenice-Simplon Orient Express and theGreat North Eastern Railway franchise fromLondon toEdinburgh .Although valued with a net worth of £60million in the
2004 Sunday Times Rich List [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/richlist/person/0,,34291,00.html Sunday Times - Rich List ] ] , as Sea Containers hit financial troubles, he has resigned from each of his companies in2006 .Transport
Ferry services
On March 24 2006 Sea Containers announced its intention to withdraw from the ferry business. These are:
*SeaStreak – fast ferry services betweenNew York andNew Jersey .
*SNAV-Hoverspeed – a joint venture with Italian ferry operatorSNAV . Uses the former "Seacat Danmark" as "Zara Jet."
*Aegean Speed Lines – a joint venture in Greece with the Eugenides Group. The service uses the former "Hoverspeed Great Britain " as "Speedrunner 1", which operated in theEnglish Channel and held the Hales Trophy and Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic.The following businesses have already been discontinued:
*Hoverspeed English Channel services
*SeaCat (Belfast -Troon ).Other
Related activities include:
*Hart Fenton – a naval architecture and marine engineering company.
*Sea Containers Chartering Ltd.Rail
*GNER – a train operating company which operated high-speed express train services on the
United Kingdom ’sEast Coast Main Line from 1996 through 2007. It was replaced byNational Express East Coast .Containers
Sea Containers container leasing business is mainly conducted through
GE SeaCo , a joint venture withGE Capital . GE SeaCo operates one of the largest marine container fleets in the world. Sea Containers also owns or partly owns five container depots, four container manufacturing facilities and a refrigerated container service business (PartCo International). In addition, it owns one container shipOther activities
* Sea Containers Property Services Ltd – property development, property asset management.
* The Illustrated London News Group (ILNG) – publishing
* Fruit farming – Sea Containers owns plantations in West Africa and South America.
* Fairways & Swinford – UK-based business travel agencyFormer Subsidiaries
*
Silja Line – fast and conventional services in theBaltic Sea . In June 2006Silja Line was purchased byTallink , a ferry company fromEstonia .Silja Line is operated as a separate company at this time and continues to use theSilja Line name.As of 2006 Sea Containers still operates theSuper Seacat service betweenHelsinki andTallinn under the "SuperSeaCat" brand name, competing against fastcatamaran s of Tallink.
*Orient Express HotelsChapter 11
In March
2006 , Sherwood resigned from all positions in the various Sea Containers Companies. Sherwood was replaced by company doctorBob MacKenzie , whileIan Durant became senior vice-president of finance.Despite selling various businesses and asets, Sea Containers announced in early October
2006 that it was unlikely to be able to pay a $115m (£62m) bond due up on15 October . On16 October , the company filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The documents revealed that Sea Containers has paid Sherwood $500k, MacKenzie just under £1.4m, and Durant £1.1m [ [http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8209-2524166,00.html Sea Containers paid bosses £1m - Times Online ] ] .On
6 November ,2006 the UK Pensions regulator wrote to Sea Containers that it must pay £143m to its two UK pension schemes if it wants to wind them up [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6120202.stm BBC NEWS | Business | Pension threat to Sea Containers ] ] .References
External links
*http://www.seacontainers.com
*http://www.gner.co.uk
*http://www.fairways.co.uk
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