Commodities firms Vitol and Grindrod have decided to wind down their bunkering joint venture, the longtime bunker supplier Cockett. The 45-year-old company is solvent and in a good financial position, Vitol said, but after much discussion, it will be shut down because it is a “non-core” asset.
Cockett is planning an orderly wind-down process, and it will continue to pay its suppliers and serve its existing contracts with customers until all its obligations are met. Effective Tuesday, however, it will no longer originate any new business.
Cockett is still under its current management team – CEO Cem Saral and CFO Arnaud Payot – who will be guiding the wind-down process to completion. A core team of employees will stay on to the end to ensure that payables and receivables are processed, and all suppliers should be paid amounts owed within 60 days. Cockett’s 100-plus employees will receive a compensation package.
“The shareholders would like to thank the Cockett employees for their professionalism, hard work and dedication to the company over many years,” said Vitol and Grindrod in a statement.
Cockett Marine Oil began selling bunker fuel in 1979, starting as an independent firm in the UK. Grindrod bought all shares in Cockett in 2008, then sold 50 percent to Vitol in early 2012 – one of several JVs between the two trading firms in the early 2010s.
In 2021, Vitol founded its own internal bunker supply division, Vitol Bunkers, which competes in the same global market as Cockett.