Chinese lender ICBC Leasing has managed to auction off two former Bourbon Offshore platform supply vessels but must put another four under the hammer again.
The vessels were taken over by the bank during the restructuring of the French shipowner.
Bourbon confirmed to TradeWinds that two ships had been sold, while saying the others will be auctioned again next month.
One shipbroking source named the offloaded pair as the 1,500-dwt Bourbon Liberty 104 and Bourbon Liberty 108 (both built 2008).
Both were laid up in the United Arab Emirates.
Nigerian interests have been linked to the ships.
No price was revealed, but the PSVs need $2m of work to return them to working order after years of inaction, the source said.
The vessels were sold through Guangzhou Shipping Exchange's online platform on 28 August.
The remaining vessels to be sold are the 1,500-dwt Bourbon Liberty 101, Bourbon Liberty 106, Bourbon Liberty 107 and Bourbon Liberty 109 (all built 2008).
The Bourbon Liberty 101 and Bourbon Liberty 109 will be sold on 10 October, and the other two on 12 October.
Special surveys are due on all four.
The Bourbon Liberty 101 is stacked in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, while the Bourbon Liberty 106 and Bourbon Liberty 107 are idled in Curacao, and the Bourbon Liberty 109 is laid up in Senegal.
Price lowered
The auction notice reveals this is the fourth time the bank has tried to sell the vessels.
The new reserve price is $420,000 each, with a deposit of $42,000.
This compares to $800,000 previously. VesselsValue estimates the PSVs are worth between $1.67m and $1.83m each.
"These vessels require large amounts of work similar to 104 and 108," said the source.
The ships are classed as small PSVs and all were constructed in China. Bourbon itself is not involved in the sales process.
ICBC was the lender that started the ball rolling on a restructuring that eventually saw five French creditor banks take over the company, while principal Jacques de Chateauvieux lost his shareholding following the offshore slump.
Bourbon is listed with a fleet of 270 ships.
More assets being sold
This month, the company said it was selling more non-core assets as it looks to stabilise its business.
Bourbon has entered into exclusive talks to offload its coastal rescue, towing and salvage business Les Abeilles to domestic "digital transformations" group Econocom.
In December, the commercial court of Marseilles handed Bourbon’s assets to Societe Phoceenne de Participations — a company representing BNP Paribas, Credit Lyonnais, Natixis, Societe Generale, Credit Mutuel Equity SCR and two regional offshoots of Credit Agricole, another big French lender.
Bourbon sought the court-mandated process in July last year after China's ICBC Leasing signalled it would demand repayment of its debts.
