Mercator Sells Five Bulkers
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Friday, January 29, 2016
Singapore’s dry bulk shipping company Mercator Lines Limited has has entered into Memoranda of Agreements to sell five bulk carriers, the company’s judicial manager said.
The judicial manager appointed to oversee the bankruptcy of Mercator Lines (Singapore) has announced five ships of the listed dry bulk subsidiary of the Indian owner are to be sold to lenders for $32.3m.
The vessels are M.V. Sri Prem Veena, M.V. Garima Prem, M.V. Garv Prem, M.V. Gaurav Prem and M.V. Aarti Prem which are secured to the syndicate lenders.
The bulkers are expected to be delivered to their new undisclosed owners by February 2016.
The sale comes in the wake of Mercator Line’s decision to exit dry bulk businesses as part of its restructuring endeavors.
The firm’s chairman and non-executive director, Harish Kumar Mittal, and three other non-executive directors have resigned from the firm in the past month.
As a result the company plans to divest its dry bulk fleet of 11 bulkers, ranging between 70,000 and 92,50 dwt built from 2001 to 2010.