Otto Marine Seeks Insolvency Protection
Singapore-based offshore shipbuilder Otto Marine is seeking insolvency protection from the High Court in a bid to salvage the company and stave off liquidation.
According to a report in the Straits Times, crippled with a debt of US$877 million (S$1.16 billion), the troubled company, which is delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), filed an application last week to be placed under judicial management.
The company has applied for an interim judicial manager to be appointed, pending the hearing of its judicial management application. The hearing has been adjourned to March 12.
According to Bloomberg, shipbuilder wants to turn itself around under the court’s supervision and fend off creditors while it restructures its debt, according to its Feb. 20 application for judicial management.
“I cannot be expected to continue shouldering the financial burden and injecting fresh capital into the company,” Executive Chairman Yaw Chee Siew said in the application.
The report said that Yaw took full control of the ailing firm in October 2016 and is the single biggest creditor with $208 million due to him and affiliates. The financial collapse of the group is imminent unless the High Court provides breathing room, he said.
It is one of several oil & gas firms still struggling to float after a plunge in crude prices caused contracts to dry up, the report said.