Asia/Pacific News
Sainty Marine Assets to be Sold in Online Auction
The assets of Chinese shipbuilder Sainty Marine, the country's first listed shipbuilder to go bankrupt, will be auctioned off online this weekend.
The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court made the order after a February ruling on the company's restructuring, which followed an application from one of its major creditors who said the ship builder was no longer meeting its outstanding debt obligations.
It is understood that the company has had orders worth CNY 6 billion ($928 million) cancelled.
Data from IHS Maritime and Trade Sea-web notes that Sainty Marine had 14 bulk carriers on its orderbook before the court ordered the assets to be auctioned.
Assets totalling some CNY350 million ($54 million) to be sold April 16 and 17 on digital shopping site Taobao include company bonds, inventories, long-term equity, and fixed assets including twelve vessels and eight properties.
The yard posted a loss of CNY1.8 billion ($278 million) in 2014 and CNY5.34 billion ($826 million) in 2015.
In March of 2016 Ship & Bunker reported that Sokje Lee, executive director Korea, JPMorgan Chase & Co., had warned dry bulk rates could stay weak for years, and that, "Because of this, we are going to see big restructuring of Chinese yards in the next two years."
