Three tankers belonging to affiliates of Ocean Tankers-linked Xihe Holdings have been placed on the sales block by recently appointed receiver KPMG.
The vessels are the 16,600-dwt chemical tankers Ocean Success and Ocean Supreme (both built 2012) and the 1,000-dwt bunker tanker Marine Topaz (built 2015).
They are owned by An Ya Shipping, An Xing Shipping and Xin Guang Shipping, respectively, which are three special-purpose vehicles under Xihe Holdings.
The vessels have been offered for sale via private treaty, according to classified advertisements recently placed in Singapore newspaper The Business Times.
All interested parties have until the evening of 2 October to submit their bids, which must include a deposit of $50,000, the advertisements said.
The vessels are being sold on an "as is, where is" basis with the two larger vessels currently in Malaysia and the third in Singapore.
All bids will remain valid for a period of three months from the date the bidding closes. The receiver said it reserves the right not to accept the highest or any bid.
VesselsValue estimates the market value of the Ocean Success at $8.64m, the Ocean Supreme at $9m and the Marine Topaz at $4.7m.
Xihe Holdings was placed under the interim judicial management of Grant Thornton Singapore in mid-August, but it is unclear how the three vessels fit within the arrangement.
Maybank moved to protect its interests
Late last month, TradeWinds reported that Maybank — Malaysia's largest financial services group — had appointed KPMG as the receiver and manager of the vessel trio.
The bank was reported to have moved to “protect its interests” as the businesses of Ocean Tankers founder Lim Oon Kuin and his family had come under pressure.
Maybank is said to have extended a mortgage to An Ya Shipping, but it is not known if it has a similar arrangement with the other two special-purpose vehicle companies.
When contacted, KPMG and Maybank declined to comment on the matter.
TradeWinds reported last week that Grant Thornton Singapore had launched the sale of seven vessels linked to Ocean Tankers.
Sources with knowledge of the matter said Clarksons and Arrow Shipbroking had been appointed as exclusive brokers for three VLCCs: the 318,000-dwt Tai San (built 2009) and Tai Hung San (built 2010) and 319,000-dwt Pu Tuo San (built 2011).
Four product tankers — the 37,300-dwt Ocean Victory (built 2002), 50,100-dwt Bei Jiang (built 2009), 109,000-dwt Ocean Trader (built 2008) and Ocean Pegasus (built 2009) — are also on the sales block.
The VLCCs and LR2s were constructed by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, the MR2 by SLS Shipbuilding, and the MR1 by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
Interested buyers can inspect them from 21 September and submit their bids eight to 10 days later. The combined value of the ships is about $195m, according to VesselsValue.
