IMSK SE’s Restructuring Efforts Go Bust

 Norwaegian gas carrier company IMSK SE, formerly known as I.M. Skaugen SE, is likely to be liquidated having failed to secure support for its restructuring plan.

The liquidation scenario emerges as talks with the company’s key creditors led by Nordea fell through.

In a letter to shareholders, the company’s CEO Morits Skaugen apologized, announcing “with the greatest frustration” the company was not successful in its refinancing mission.

“We have worked very hard and we have tried to make it happen, but we were not successful. The responsibility is mine alone, and me and my family are losing most of us all,” the letter reads.

As such, the expected course of action was the liquidation of the business.

Bante Karin Flo, Chief Financial Officer of IMSK SE, said in a statement to the Singapore court that the company would no longer pursue its refinancing or restructuring plan presented in April this year.

Under the plan, the shipping company was trying to renegotiate loan terms with the syndicate lenders represented by Nordea, as the agent, and Swedbank. The two lenders hold facilities secured by mortgages over Somargas vessels, which were key to IMSK’s restructuring plan.

The company was trying to get an extension on its loan tenor, however, in August this year, Nordea asked for full payment of USD 35 million loan plus interest.

Shortly after, Nordea ordered the Somargas vessels to be sailed to Gibraltar and Singapore, making them unable to trade, Flo said, adding that the vessels were the only revenue generating assets of the IMS Group.

The ongoing situation has also jeopardized the company’s small-scale LNG project (SSLNG) in the West Africa, which was described as the first step in the company’s business transformation.

As disclosed, the company was planning to deploy the Somargas ships in West Africa SSLNG project, wehere thy would earn an estimated USD 39 million a year; USD 273 million over 7 years, that would have been used to pay debts to creditors.

“Given the present deadlock with the Nordea Syndicate, it is difficult to see how the IMSK Group would be able to progress with any of the SSLNG Projects,” the statement reads.

World Maritime News Staff