Singapore shipping trust Rickmers Maritime has confirmed that it is selling a 7-year-old panamax containership to pay down bank debt.
The 2009-built India Rickmers was previously known as the Hanjin Newport.
The company said Monday it has reached a deal with Commerzbank in Singapore to sell the 4,250 teu India Rickmers and use the proceeds to partially repay senior loan facilities extended by Commerzbank to Rickmers.
Last month Rickmers denied media reports that it had sold the 2009-built India Rickers for recycling, which would have set the record for the the youngest containership ever sold for scrap.
Monday’s agreement was simply a memorandum of agreement for the sale of the vessel.
Under the agreement Commerzbank has agreed to waive repayment of a material portion of the remaining debt owed under the facility.
India Rickmers was delivered in April 2009 by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in China. The ship was previously known as Hanjin Newport.
The website VesselsValue.com last month valued the India Rickmers at just over scrap value at $5.87 million. In 2016 the vessel fell 62% in value, primarily due to the widening of the Panama Canal, according to the website.
Including India Rickmers Rickmers Maritime has a fleet of 16 panamax containerships with an average age of 8 years.
The trust said it would update its noteholders and unitholder if there are any more developments.
In November Rickmers said it faced the risk of going out of business after it missed paying a S$4.26 million interest payment on a S$100 million ($71 million) bond that it has been trying to restructure.
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