In an update issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday (19 January), Genting Hong Kong – which also owns the Star Cruises and Dream Cruises brands – reiterated it had "exhausted all reasonable efforts" to negotiate a resolution with relevant stakeholders and counterparties.

As a result, Genting said the company’s available cash balances were now expected to run out on or around the end of January. "The board considers that the company will imminently be unable to pay its debts as they fall due," it added.

It confirmed on Wednesday it had filed a petition for the winding up of the company in the Supreme Court of Bermuda, as well as the appointment of joint administrators with whom it now intends to work to develop a restructuring proposal to allow the company to continue trading as a going concern.

A hearing has been fixed for 2.30pm (Bermuda time) on Friday to determine the application for the winding up order and appointment of administrators.

Trading in Genting Hong Kong’s shares was suspended on Tuesday and will remain so "until further notice", while several of the group’s independent non-executive directors have resigned.

The group filed for insolvency for its German shipbuilding subsidiary MVWH – MV Werften Holdings – last week after insurers refused to cover a loan on the basis of a five-year outlook for the Genting Group.

At the start of the year, Genting revealed it had been refused a previously agreed $88 million loan. It reiterated on Tuesday its inability to access this cash had created "an immediate and significant gap" in the group’s access to liquidity.