ICICI seeks impounding of ships operated by HLT unit Ocean Tankers - source

By Nidhi Verma
·1 min read
A security guard sits outside an ICICI bank branch in Mumbai

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank is seeking the impounding of two vessels operated by Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, a unit of Singapore oil-trading company Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (HLT), an ICICI source said on Monday.

The tankers, Wu Yi San and Chang Bai San, were carrying cargoes financed by ICICI, the source said, adding that the bank had about $100 million exposure to HLT.

According to a court filing reviewed by Reuters, HLT's founder and director had directed his firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over several years.

Shares of ICICI Bank fell about 4% after Reuters reported ICICI's exposure to HLT.

ICICI, Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers did not immediately respond to Reuters emails seeking comments.

(Additional Reporting by Seng Lipeng and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Edmund Blair)