Claymore Securities, the Lisle, Ill.-based money management firm known for its niche investment strategies, relaunched its shipping industry ETF “SEA” after being forced to close a previous version of the fund in April.

In an ETF-industry first, Claymore was forced to shut down SEA after a shareholder vote related to Claymore’s acquisition by Guggenheim Partners in October didn’t attract enough voters to establish a quorum. The vote was required to approve a change in the fund’s investment advisers. Claymore said at the time that it planned to open a new shipping fund as soon as possible, hopefully with the same ticker.

Claymore has made good on that pledge. The Claymore Shipping ETF fund is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with the same ticker (NYSEArca: SEA) and with the same expense ratio of 0.65 percent. The original SEA, launched in August 2007, had gathered almost $153 million by the time it closed.

Claymore Managing Director William Belden has said that the situation was extraordinary, particularly in view of the fact that none of Claymore’s other funds that had to conduct the same get-out-the-vote drive failed to obtain the required 50 percent quorum.

Belden added that the fact that many investors used SEA as part of short-term, sector rotation strategies meant that some shareholders no longer owned the fund by the time Claymore solicited their votes. Many held their SEA shares anonymously, making the vote-gathering challenge more significant, he said.