Creditors are trying again to sell a chunk of the tanker fleet of bankrupt Palmali LLC in Russia.
Lenders led by Sberbank will auction off 46 tankers and tank barges to recoup some of the money owed by the Rostov-based subsidiary of Turkey's Palmali Shipping.
The fleet is being sold off in a single lot, with the Russian daily Kommersant reporting the price could be lowered from RUB 5.7bn ($76m) to RUB 3.6bn.
The group specialises in product tankers of between 3,000 dwt and 20,000 dwt.
The banks have tried twice before to sell the ships, but there were no buyers.
But current booming tanker rates may make the fleet more attractive this time around.
A deadline for the new sale has not been set yet.
A previous auction was suspended by the banks in February.
This had been announced in December at a starting price of RUB 5.76bn and a minimum level of RUB 3.6bn after phased priced reductions.
Sberbank has not commented on the sale process, while Palmali LLC general director Alexey Mikhelev declined to comment.
Mansimov ends hunger strike
Palmali Shipping is controlled by Mubariz Mansimov, who has recently been on hunger strike after being arrested in Turkey last month over alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, an opponent of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He denies any wrongdoing and has now said he will end his protest for the sake of his children, while still demanding that his detention be turned into house arrest.
Last February, a quartet of small tankers were auctioned off. The four 6,600-dwt sisterships were involved in Sberbank’s RUB 13bn claim against Palmali LLC. Its total debt is RUB 14bn.
Palmali LLC was one of the largest carriers in the Volga-Don basin and Caspian region.
In 2018, it was declared bankrupt by the commercial court in Rostov. The court proceedings are ongoing.
The Russian company had been hoping to avoid bankruptcy and had come up with a financial recovery plan, but at a meeting of creditors in September 2018, Sberbank voted to open bankruptcy proceedings.
The bank has mortgages on 46 Palmali vessels and five properties, court documents showed.
Harry Papachristou contributed to this story
