Singaporean bank to seize Swissco’s new liftboat?

Singapore’s DBS Bank has made a move to seize a new liftboat owned by its compatriot Swissco, a provider of vessels and rigs to the oil and gas industry, who recently went bust. 

The Singaporean integrated marine company in November filed an application to be placed under judicial management. At the end of the month, the Singapore High Court put the company into interim judicial management.

At the beginning of December, the court authorized the company to make payment of wages to a crew of certain vessels and service asset, which was necessary to ensure that these assets continue generating revenue.

The interim judicial managers of Swissco Holdings Limited, who were appointed by the court, informed on Wednesday, December 28 that a step-down subsidiary of the Swissco, Liftboat 1 International Pte Ltd, received a notice dated December 22, 2016, notifying it of the appointment of Andrew Grimmett and Lim Loo Khoon as joint and several receivers over its liftboat vessel Jinshan 1, effective from December 22, 2016.

The notice was issued by solicitors for DBS Bank as the lender and mortgagee of the vessel. Commenting on the notice, Swissco said: “The interim judicial managers are taking advice and considering their options on the notice.”

Swissco entered the liftboat market in September 2014 by acquiring its first liftboat for approximately $56 million.

The Jinshan 1 self-elevating liftboat, built on SUDA model 320-L4T, is a 320 foot (97.5 m) truss-legged liftboat.  It was delivered to Swissco in August 2016 by Triyards Marine. The unit is capable of working in water depths of up to 75 meters.

Offshore Energy Today Staff