The fate of the four-ship fleet of defunct bunker tanker operator Vermont UM Shipping remains is in the hands of mortgage holders and the Singapore courts.
That is after none of the buyers that took part in sealed bid auctions held last Friday were willing to offer anything close to the minimum reserve price.
The 5,000-dwt Angel Sun (built 2006), 7,000-dwt Angel Moon (built 2011), 6,500-dwt Angel Star and 6,800-dwt Ansheng (both built 2012), all small product tankers fitted out to operate in the marine fuels trade, were expected to attract strong interest from buyers when their auctions were first announced at the end of June.
It was expected that the quartet would bring in as much as $28m based on then current market estimates. Broking sources told TradeWinds at the time that they expected the quartet to sell quickly as there was always strong demand for modern bunker tankers in Singapore, one of the world’s largest bunkering locations.
No shortage of bidders
Officials at the Sheriff of Singapore’s office said this week that there was no shortage of bidders. Each of the ships attracted at least a handful of bids, but none of the amounts offered were deemed high enough for a sale to proceed.
The bids have been referred to law firm Rajah & Tann, which acts on behalf of mortgage holder Maybank. If they are willing to accept what was offered, it will then have to go before the High Court judge handling the case for final approval.
If the bank or judge disapproves of the amounts offered, a second auction will be arranged.
It is common practice for the reserve price to be lowered at each successive auction.
This works to the advantage of prospective buyers who, while keen to buy a ship, have no pressing need to acquire it immediately and are willing to take the risk of losing it to a more aggressive purchaser.
Vermont UM Shipping was the shipowning arm of Vermont UM Bunkering, a Singapore-based marine fuels supplier that was stripped of its operating licences in April 2016 after the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore found discrepancies and wrongful declarations in records kept onboard its bunkering vessels.
With Vermont UM Shipping unable to trade, Maybank stepped in to arrest the ships in April.
