A court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is trying again to sell an arrested Folk Shipping tanker at a reduced price.
The Federal Court of Fujairah has relisted the 15,200-dwt product carrier Queen Helena (built 2009), according to exclusive broker CW Kellock.
The starting price has been cut to AED 19.83m ($5.4m), down from AED 22.3m last time, with the auction ending on 4 November. The ship failed to sell in October.
There are no bids currently on the country's auction website.
The former Folk Elegant is lying at anchor off Fujairah following its arrest by National Bank of Fujairah.
VesselsValue assesses the ship to be worth $5.74m if sold for further trading.
Sistership sold
The lender arrested a sistership last year. Shan Ship Management of India bought the 15,200-dwt Folk Beauty (built 2010) at auction in Singapore in August 2019.
Dubai-based Folk Shipping is also listed with the 6,300-dwt product tanker Jal Doot I (built 2008) in its fleet.
CW Kellock told TradeWinds that it had been appointed to market the Queen Helena and assist bidders with the buying process.
The UK shipbroker said the vessel failed to sell during a first auction round between July and September. The reserve price was $6.8m at that time.
The Folk Beauty had an estimated market value of $8m when the auction was first announced.
The UAE bank had filed an AED 45.2m mortgage claim against the ship.
Folk Shipping last year blamed a long-running commercial dispute with oil trader Mena Energy as the cause of a cash crunch that led to the arrest of Folk Beauty.
In its court affidavit in Singapore, National Bank of Fujairah said it had provided Folk Shipping with financing to buy the two vessels.
The duo was reportedly acquired for $12.7m each, and both were flagged in the UAE upon delivery.
Folk Shipping operated the vessels in the Middle East and the surrounding region until mid-2018, when Mena Energy had them arrested in Sharjah, as TradeWinds reported last year.
The reasons for their arrests were not disclosed in the Singapore proceedings, although National Bank of Fujairah described the oil trader as being a creditor of Folk Shipping.
