The deputy sheriff of the High Court for the Erongo region has been authorised to sell a freezer trawler belonging to the financially troubled company Hodago Fishing, of which a Swapo-linked company is a minority shareholder.
An order authorising the deputy sheriff to sell Hodago’s fishing vessel Venus 1 through a public auction was granted by judge Orben Sibeya in the Windhoek High Court on Tuesday.
Standard Bank Namibia applied for the order allowing the judicial sale of the fishing vessel.
The company Gendev Fishing Resources, in which the Swapo-owned company Guinas Investments is a 96.5% shareholder, has 45% of the shareholding in Hodago Fishing.
Standard Bank Namibia’s manager of legal services, Sumari Rusch, informed the court in a sworn statement that Hodago Fishing owes the bank N$36 million – N$18.4 million in respect of a loan agreement and N$17.6 million in respect of a facility agreement.
Standard Bank Namibia agreed in October 2024 to make an amount of N$25 million available to Hodago Fishing for the refurbishing of the Venus 1, Rusch recounted.
After a loan agreement between the bank and Hodago Fishing was concluded, the bank made overdraft facilities in amounts of N$19 million and N$3.9 million available to the company, according to Rusch.
She also informed the court that Hodago Fishing failed to pay instalments to the bank when payments were due.
The bank demanded repayment of amounts of N$18.4 million and N$17.6 million from Hodago Fishing on 10 April this year, but the company has failed to make those payments, Rusch said in her affidavit.
She also informed the court that crew members of the Venus 1 had the vessel placed under arrest through a warrant of arrest that was issued on 9 February this year.
At that stage, the crew members were claiming the payment of US$211 556 (about N$3.3 million) in wages from Hodago Fishing.
Rusch informed the court that by the end of April, outstanding wages due to crew members on the Venus 1 amounted to US$469 665 (about N$7.8 million).
Standard Bank Namibia obtained a warrant for the arrest of the Venus 1 in respect of the bank’s claims for N$18.4 million and N$17.6 million against Hodago Fishing on 17 April.
Rusch recounted that since the vessel was impounded, the bank has received a payment of N$5 million in respect of the company’s debts.
She also stated that the bank is aware of at least two other creditors of Hodago Fishing that have obtained judgements against the company.
The company Monjasa Namibia obtained a judgement for the payment of N$1.1 million in respect of fuel supplied to Hodago Fishing in the High Court in February, while Namibia Drydock & Repair obtained a judgement for the payment of N$5 million against Hodago Fishing in respect of repairs and other work done on the Venus 1 in March.
The Venus 1 was built in 1988, is about 96 metres in length and has a gross tonnage of 4 407 tonnes.
According to a valuation report provided to the court, an independent valuation of the vessel has been done and its value was determined at N$65 million.
The Namibian reported earlier this week that Hodago Fishing is also involved in legal disputes about the sale of fish caught by the vessel.
It was reported that a Zambian company, Delmare Group Limited, is suing Hodago Fishing in a bid to stop it from delivering 600 tonnes of horse mackerel to an entity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Fond Social de la République Démocratique du Congo.
It was also reported that Hodago Fishing is being sued by the company Corridor Logistics, which claims that it has paid Hodago Fishing more than N$17 million for fish, but only fish worth about N$5 million has been delivered to it.
