Malayan Banking (Maybank) has appointed KPMG to act as receiver and manager of three vessels owned by oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin and his family's Xihe Holdings
The bank is concerned about its interests in the vessels as Lim and his family businesses come under pressure from creditors, Singapore's Business Times reported on Friday.
It is unclear whether Maybank has commenced legal action in Singapore that would allow KPMG to take control of the tankers.
The trio 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, three special-purpose vehicles under Xihe Holdings.
Until recently, all three ships were operated by Lim's Ocean Tankers.
According to the Business Times, Maybank had extended a mortgage to An Ya Shipping, owner of the Ocean Success, in 2015. The loan amount was not disclosed, nor were details of the bank's involvement with the other two ships.
Neither KPMG nor Maybank was available for comment.
VesselsValue estimates the market value of the Ocean Success at $8.64m, the Ocean Supreme at $9m and the Marine Topaz at $4.7m.
Legal setbacks
Maybank's move is the latest legal setback that has plagued Xihe Holdings as it attempts to establish itself as a tanker operator separate from the Lims' Ocean Tankers and Hin Leong Trading.
Two weeks ago, the High Court of Singapore granted OCBC Bank’s application for Xihe Holdings to be placed under interim judicial management.
Accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton Singapore was appointed interim judicial manager of Xihe Holdings and four associated special-purpose vehicles that owned ships in which OCBC held a financial interest as the mortgage provider.
Da Xin Tankers, Hua Guang Shipping, Nan King Maritime and Hua Xin Shipping together own five vessels: the 318,000-dwt Qi Lian San (built 2012), Tai Hung San (built 2010), Lu San (built 2009), the 74,000-dwt LR1 tanker Tai Hu (built 2007) and the 50,400-dwt MR tanker Ocean Mercury (built 2008).
OCBC applied for Xihe and the four special-purpose vehicles to be placed under court supervision in July, citing a strong distrust of Xihe’s management after allegedly fraudulent activities were uncovered at affiliated Ocean Tankers and Hin Leong by their respective judicial managers.
Ernst & Young (EY), the judicial manager of Ocean Tankers, is also seeking to reclaim about $19m from the Lim family via legal channels.
EY alleged that in April, Lim had instructed Ocean Tankers to transfer the funds in two transactions to himself, his daughter Lim Huey Ching and son Lim Chee Meng, saying they were partial repayments of a shareholder loan.
EY said the Lim family has “breached their fiduciary duties” by transferring the cash when Ocean Tankers was insolvent.
Meanwhile, Lim Oon Kuin has been charged with abetting forgery for the purpose of cheating. If found guilty, he could face a jail term of up to 10 years.
