Singapore's Pacific International Lines (PIL) has slapped down rumours doing the rounds on social media about a potential bankruptcy.
The containership company said in a statement that people had been making "totally false claims" and added it reserved the right to pursue legal action against anyone involved.
"There have been rumours circulating on social media, making false claims about a potential bankruptcy of PIL," the outfit said.
"PIL would like to clarify that these rumours are totally false and the information and content derived therefrom are unfounded."
The company urged "the public" not to spread fake news and misinformation during the coronavirus crisis.
As the Covid-19 pandemic in China continued to improve, PIL and its Chinese subsidiaries resumed operations on 9 March.
"PIL has been making steady progress and is currently actively preparing for a strong rebound after the epidemic," the company added.
Focus on key markets
It said that, in the face of an increasingly complex and uncertain global market environment, PIL has remained resilient by embarking on a service rationalisation that will focus efforts on key liner markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania and South America.
The company believes it is well-positioned in capturing market opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and will continue to strengthen its position in North-South routes.
"With the introduction of various global quantitative easing programmes and the strong development of BRI, we believe the next few years will be an excellent opportunity for PIL to participate in any market upside," the outfit said.
Last month, it emerged that PIL was trying to find a solution to overdue payments in a cash-flow situation aggravated by the coronavirus outbreak.
Singamas, its container manufacturing subsidiary, revealed in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it was in talks with its parent and other creditors over a repayment deal.
Singamas blamed "the challenging market conditions" and the global impact of Covid-19 for its parent's troubles.
"The discussion is progressing well with good support from the creditors," it said.
Singamas added that the amount of trade receivables due from PIL is $147m — a majority of which is overdue.
Provision of $10m
A PIL spokeswoman told TradeWinds at the time that the debt was related to an order for containers that was entered into under normal trading conditions in a lull period.
PIL made a loss provision of $10m as a result.
A report by analyst Reorg said a bond offering circular issued by PIL in 2018 revealed it had liabilities of $4.7bn at that time. Of this, $2.3bn was termed as current.
The liner operator also had upcoming unsecured term loans maturities of at least $210m in 2020, according to the same document.
The bond was never issued due to unfavourable market conditions.
Lenders include DBS and the Export-Import Bank of China.
Neo-panamax fleet reduced
PIL has sold six neo-panamaxes this year, and signalled more vessel disposals could be carried out.
US-listed shipowner Seaspan Corp snapped up four of the 12,000-teu units for $367m, while Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines took two for $189m.
PIL has already pulled out of the transpacific market, and has offloaded its 60% stake in South Pacific islands operator Pacific Direct Line, which operates five feeders of between 520 teu and 940 teu.
The company was forced to deny some of its vessels were arrested in Singapore earlier this year, instead blaming a lack of low-sulphur fuel oil for the prolonged anchoring of a number of ships there.
During the pandemic, PIL said it has ensured smooth transportation of various essential goods, as well as emergency and anti-epidemic supplies to China.
And Singamas has developed the first mobile container-based nucleic acid testing laboratory for Covid-19.
