Rickmers Maritime Gets a Breather as Noteholder Backs Down from Injunction

Rickmers Maritime seems to have dodged a bullet and can resume with the sale of its boxship fleet to Navios Partners now that the noteholder who filed an injunction against the deal has withdrawn the application.

“The plaintiff has on the 17 May 2017 withdrawn his application and discontinued his court case against the trust with leave from the High Court with no order as to costs,” Rickmers Trust Management, the trustee-manager of Rickmers Maritime, said.

The company did not reveal the reasons behind the investor’s decision to withdraw the injunction.

The injunction was filed on May 12 by an individual investor, Kwok Kian Tow Peter, who holds the company’s SGD 250,000 (around USD 179,000) of the SGD 100 million 8.45 percent notes, seeking to stop the sale of the ships to Navios Containers and Navios Partners Containers Finance.

Any impediments to the sale would have harmed the winding up process of the trust faced with major liquidity issues.

“The trustee-manager urges all creditor parties to abstain from actions that may jeopardize or delay the orderly wind-up of the trust, which could adversely impact value and timing of any recoveries,” the trust further added.

In late April, Greece-based Navios Maritime Partners agreed to acquire the entire container fleet from Rickmers Maritime. The average age of the fleet, which consists of eleven 4,250 TEU containerships and three 3,450 TEU vessels, is 9.5 years.

Subsequently, Navios Maritime Partners said it plans to transfer the 14-vessel fleet to its affiliate Navios Containers.