Norwegian OSV owner Havila Shipping has revealed its equity is NOK 962m ($105m) negative as financial restructuring talks continue.

Its last refinancing deal was executed in February 2017 after a prolonged market slump, but it matures on 7 November 2020.

"The company expects that ongoing negotiations will result in an agreement where the debt thereafter will be considered as long term," it said in its third quarter report.

"Even though the company assumes that ongoing negotiations will lead to an acceptable financial solution, it is a risk that reaching an agreement will fail. If so, the anticipation is that the asset values will decrease further."

The book value of the fleet is NOK 2.99bn.

Total current assets amounted to NOK 379.6m at 30 September, with total interest-bearing debt at NOK 4.21bn.

Havila began a new round of negotiations with its lenders in April after 12 of its vessels failed to pass a six-month stress test.

For the affected ships, interest payments have been postponed for interest accrued since 1 March until the "alternative" courses of action in the 2017 restructuring agreement are clarified or are renegotiated.

These "alternative" strategies could see lenders taking ownership of vessels and cancelling the related debt; or vessels may be sold.

Net loss higher in third quarter

Havila logged a net loss of NOK 100.04m in the three months to 30 September, from a loss of NOK 91.83m in 2018.

Revenue rose to NOK 211.52m against NOK 167.67m, but financial expenses were NOK 110.89m, versus NOK 44.84m the year before.

This was mainly due to unrealised currency losses rising to NOK 51.7m.

The operating profit before depreciation was NOK 92.9m, compared to NOK 45.8m in 2018.

The company runs 23 vessels from Fosnavag, including six for external owners.

Three anchor-handlers were laid up at the end of the period.

Fleet utilisation was 86%, excluding the stacked ships.

Total operating expenses were NOK 118.6m, down from NOK 121.9m.