A pair of Asian offshore construction vessels are to be auctioned in the US as a group of banks seeks to recoup debts.
Norway's Pareto Shipbrokers has been brought in to market the 7,200-dwt Caballo Maya (built 2010) and 7,000-dwt Caballo Marango (built 2012), which are linked to Singapore's Coastline Maritime.
The ships are currently laid up in Galveston, Texas.
The auction is set for 9 December and will be administered by the US Marshal at the US Federal Court in Houston.
Bidders are required to be present in person.
Pareto said the vessels will be sold separately on an "as-is, where-is" basis, and free of any claims and encumbrances.
TradeWinds reported last summer that a trio of financiers and the Norwegian government were asking for the ships to be sold in an effort to recover defaulted loans.
Court action in Texas
Caterpillar Financial Services Asia, Eksportfinans, KFW IPEX-Bank and the Norwegian state were taking legal action in a Houston federal court over loans to the registered owners between 2008 and 2017.
Outstanding borrowing totalled $267m. Of this, $112.5m was lent to Marfield Ltd, the registered owner of the Caballo Maya, while another $154.5m was owed by the Caballo Marango's owner, Shanara Maritime.
Coastline Maritime did not respond to requests for comment last year, but has been contacted again.
UK shipbroker Clarksons lists Coastline Maritime as also controlling a laid-up heavylift vessel.
The currently laid-up ships were seized in June 2019 following a lawsuit from Grupo R.
The Mexican oil and gas company was looking to get back a $10m deposit made when it wanted to buy the ships in 2014 before the deal fell apart.
Second complaint
The lawsuit by the financiers and Norway was then filed as an intervenor complaint in Grupo R's case.
Neither owning company had made payments since 17 March 2014, the banking group alleged. Marfield is said to owe Eksportfinans $47.7m and Caterpillar $64.7m, while Shanara owes Norway $64.5m, Caterpillar $67.8m and KFW $22.3m.
In Grupo R's suit, the Mexican company said it sought to buy the Caballo Marango and Caballo Maya for $178m and $150m, respectively.
However, VesselsValue now assesses the units to be worth $30.5m and $24m, respectively.
