Time Running Out for World’s Top Shipbuilder as Creditors Argue

  • Korean National Pension Service holds key to Daewoo survival
  • World’s biggest shipbuilder has losses and no cash for bonds

Ships sit moored under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in Geoje, South Korea.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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South Korea’s National Pension Service has a decision to make -- help the world’s biggest shipmaker survive, or let it die.

Creditors to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. are due to meet next week to decide whether to convert some of the 1.55 trillion won ($1.4 billion) of bonds into equity to help the unprofitable company. Tipping the scale will be the decision of NPS, the biggest holder of debt that matures this month.