Great Eastern Shipping has seen one of its vessels released from a mortgage backing a 10-year bond issue.
India’s biggest privately owned shipowner said the 51,000-dwt MR Jag Pranav (built 2005) has been freed of its obligation by bond trustee Vistra ITCL.
The ship was one of three that had mortgages created and assigned to Vistra as security for INR 3bn ($36.1m) of non-convertible debentures, or NCDs, carrying interest at 8.85%.
The other vessels were the 106,000-dwt LR2 tanker Jag Lokesh (built 2006) and the 82,000-dwt kamsarmax bulker Jag Aalok (built 2016).
VesselsValue rates these vessels as worth $41m and $25.5m, respectively, while the Jag Pravav is assessed at nearly $18m.
The trustee judged that the value of the other two ships was sufficient to maintain the correct security level in the NCD terms.
The NCDs were also backed by a Great Eastern property asset.
The bonds expire in April 2028.
They were sold in April 2018 and have the highest AAA credit rating from Care Ratings, with a stable outlook
The NCDs are listed on India’s NSE exchange.
In December, Great Eastern sold another veteran product carrier after its recent acquisition of a modern vessel.
Values increasing
The Mumbai-listed owner said it has agreed to offload the 48,000-dwt MR tanker Jag Prabha (built 2004) for an undisclosed price, with delivery by the end of March.
VesselsValue assessed the ship as worth $15.4m, up from $8m two years ago.
The tanker was bought from Cido Shipping for $17m in 2013.
The deal left Great Eastern with 12 other MRs built between 2003 and 2008, plus other tankers, bulkers, gas carriers and offshore support vessels.
