Swiss commodities trader Mercuria has confirmed it is hiring over 40 staff from bankrupt OW Bunker and opening new offices in Korea, Japan and Greece as result.

Mercuria is making a major expansion in the marine fuels business, filling part of the gap left by the collapse OW Bunker.

The trader said it was hiring over 40 former OW Bunker staff who will be based in new offices in Korea, Japan and Greece as well as existing Mercuria offices in Geneva and Houston. It also was exploring setting up a standalone subsidiary Minerva which would focus on the marine fuels business.

This is a natural expansion of our robust fuel oil trading infrastructure,” said Magid Shenouda, Mercuria’s group head of trading. “By adding these talented professionals to our ranks, we build upon Mercuria’s skill sets and relationships in the physical fuel oil business, continue to expand the services we provide to customers and add stability and reliability to the global ship fuel market by providing services and expertise to those that rely on knowledge of the energy space.”