Toisa hires shipbroking specialist Clarksons to sell 26 vessels

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court has allowed the debt-laden vessel owner Toisa to hire the shipbroking specialist Clarksons as its broker to facilitate its tanker and bulker fleet sale.

To remind, Toisa with several of its subsidiaries in January 2017, filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. According to a Reuters report, Toisa’s debt was more than $1 billion at the time of filing for bankruptcy protection.

The company at the time said it took the action following a prolonged slump in global oil prices, among other factors, and its effect on its offshore business.

“While the Company would have preferred to complete its financial restructuring out of court, its complex debt structure and dipartite lender group made filing Chapter 11 necessary to provide a single forum for all continuing conversations with lenders,” Toisa said in January 2017.

Toisa will now hire Clarksons which will work on identifying potential buyers of the assets. Clarkson will also assist potential buyers with regarding inspections of the vessels and their records and the ships being constructed under Toisa’s newbuild contracts.

According to the court documents, a total of 26 vessels is held for sale, including three Aframax, and three Suezmax tankers under construction.

Other vessels held for sale are one Aframax tanker, five Suezmax tankers, four LR2 product tankers, three Panamax tankers, and 7 Kamsarmax bulkers.

Clarksons will create a virtual data room with information for each Asset that is typically requested in shipping sale and purchase transactions.

What about OSVs?

Under a fleet management company Sealion, Toisa owns a fleet of offshore vessels, including, platform suppliers, anchor handlers, DSVs, CSVs, and ROV support vessel. It’s unclear what the plans are for the offshore support vessel fleet. According to court documents, Sealion manages 26 offshore vessels directly or indirectly owned by Toisa.

The offshore fleet of Toisa and its subsidiaries, as of August 2017,  consisted of four construction support vessels, one well test service vessel, nine remotely operated vehicle (“ROV”) support vessels, and twelve platform supply and anchor handling tug supply vessels.

Worth noting, announcing the Chapter 11 motion, Toisa said Sealion Shipping Ltd., Marine Management Services and Marine Management Bulk Services, Farnham Marine Agency Ltd., Sealion do Brasil Navagacao Ltda., Sealion do Corcovado Navagacao Ltda., and Brokerage & Management Corp. were not part of the Chapter 11 filing “and continue to function as normal, without interruption.”

However, according to Toisa’s reorganization plan released in August 2017, almost all of Toisa’s offshore vessels were at the time being held in cold lay-up “to reduce costs, maintain the assets and
preserve value pending a rebound in the oil market.”

Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Sealion, seeking more info on the status of the Toisa offshore fleet. We will update the article if we get a response.

Offshore Energy Today Staff