STX Pan Ocean Co., the shipping unit of cash-strapped STX Group, said Friday that it filed for court receivership, dealing a further blow to the shipbuilding and shipping conglomerate which is currently facing a cash shortage.

STX Group, the 13th biggest conglomerate, has seen its major affiliates struggling from liquidity shortages and mounting debt due to the downturn in the shipbuilding and shipping sectors.

“We have faced a liquidity crisis due to mounting debts and losses that stem from falling freight rates and an oversupply of ships in line with the global economic slump,” the company said in a statement. “Such circumstances forced us to take a drastic step (court receivership).”

Trading of STX Pan Ocean was halted on the Seoul bourse. Shares of STX Pan Ocean dropped by the daily limit of 15 percent to close at 2,565 won in the previous session.

STX Pan Ocean said it will file for court receivership later in the day.

Main creditor Korea Development Bank and others have agreed to pump a combined 900 billion won ($811 million) into STX Corp. and its shipbuilding unit STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.

They are now reviewing plans to inject liquidity into troubled STX Heavy Industries Co. and STX Engine Co. which have requested that the creditors provide liquidity in exchange for corporate overhaul.

KDB has almost reached a tentative conclusion that it would be difficult for its private equity fund to buy STX Pan Ocean, the country’s leading bulk carrier, as its financial health remains in bad shape, according to industry sources.

But the financial regulator is reportedly opposed to KDB’s move to give up the purchase as the collapse of the nation’s No. 3 shipper is feared to undermine the Korean shipping industry.

Since the group failed to find a buyer for STX Pan Ocean in March, it has requested a private equity fund managed by KDB to consider the purchase.

STX Corp. holds a 27.4 percent stake in STX Pan Ocean, followed by KDB with 14.99 percent.

According to industry data, the group has debts worth 1 trillion won that come due within this year, of which 500 billion won comes to maturity this month. The shipper’s total debt is estimated at around 4.4 trillion won, including 700 billion won in loans extended by banks.

Hit hard by the global economic downturn, Korea Line Corp., the country’s No.4 shipper, has been under court receivership since early 2011 as the company has suffered from massive debts worth over 1 trillion won. (Yonhap News)