No Bidders in Sainty Marine’s Second Auction

The second asset auction of Shenzhen-listed shipbuilder Jiangsu Sainty Marine has failed as the sale of the company’s assets did not attract any buyers.

The 24-hour auction period, which started yesterday morning, was held on China’s online auction website Taobao.

The starting bid price was set at CNY 1.72 billion (USD 265.4 million), 20 percent lower than the assessed value of the assets.

The shares of the financially-troubled shipbuilder will be auctioned off again on May 12, according to data from Taobao.

Jiangsu Sainty Marine’s assets were put up for sale after an order from the Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court.

The assets include twelve vessels worth CNY 250 million, yard facilities, properties, cars, equipment, and the shipbuilder’s debts.

If the company fails to accomplish the restructuring, it will be forced to choose bankruptcy, and might face delisting from the Shangai stock exchange, Jiangsu Sainty Marine earlier said.

During 2015 the shipbuilder received cancellations of a number of newbuilding orders due to its inability to deliver the vessels on time.

In an effort to return to liquidity, the company put four newbuild 64,000 tons bulk carriers up for sale in mid-2015.

World Maritime News Staff