Seaborne Freight has appointed a voluntary liquidator and will go out of business owing almost £2m.
The company has lodged a winding up resolution with Companies House and appointed voluntary liquidator Quantuma.
The freight ferry company was awarded a £13.8m government contract in December 2018 to provide extra freight capacity to UK ports in the event of a no-deal Brexit back in March 2019 – despite having no ferries or any sector experience.
The award was part of a wider £107m deal with three firms, including Seaborne Freight, which raised a storm of protest, particularly from Eurotunnel which had not been invited to bid.
The House of Commons transport select committee also questioned the legality of the government contract awards to the three ferry companies, particularly Seaborne Freight.
In February 2019, DfT terminated the contract with Seaborne Freight on the grounds it would not reach its contractual requirements and that the company’s backer Arklow Shipping had pulled out of the deal.
According to documents lodged at Companies House the firm has assets of around £39,000 in computer equipment, furniture and cash.
However it owes almost £2m, made up of £1.2m to trade and expense creditors, a £400,000 loan, £323,000 in directors loans and a £100 corporation tax bill to HMRC.
