Chinese lender ICBC Leasing has failed to sell four platform supply vessels (PSVs) it took over during the restructuring of French shipowner Bourbon.
The leasing unit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is circulating details of further auctions for the ships in China.
The price has been lowered to $340,000 each this time round on the Guangzhou Shipping Exchange, whose auction website shows the vessels will be up for grabs over the next five days.
The four laid-up ships left on the shelf are the 1,500-dwt Bourbon Liberty 101, Bourbon Liberty 106, Bourbon Liberty 107 and Bourbon Liberty 109 (all built 2008).
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.
This is the fifth time the bank has tried to sell the ships.
The reserve price has been cut from $420,000 each, which was a reduction on the previous level of $800,000.
VesselsValue estimates the PSVs are worth between $1.67m and $1.83m each.
Work needed
The PSVs require large amounts of work before returning to operation.
They are classed as small units and all were constructed in China. Bourbon itself is not involved in the sales process.
At the last auction in September, ICBC Leasing succeeded in selling 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.
ICBC Leasing was the lender that started the ball rolling on a restructuring that eventually saw five French creditor banks take over Bourbon, while principal Jacques de Chateauvieux lost his shareholding following the offshore slump.
