Court sells Sejin Maritime Chemical Tanker for $3.7m

Creditors of failed South Korean tanker operator Sejin Maritime have decided to cut their losses and sell after receiving an offer below appraised value for a handysize chemical tanker that received just onelow bid in early December.

The Singaporean courts have approved the sale of the 29,000-dwt chemical/products tanker Chem Orchid (built 1993) to a Panamanian entity called Providence Shipping for SGD 4.8m ($3.7m). The arrested vessel went under the hammer in early December but Providence was the sole bidder. Tanker sources at the time said they were not surprised that the vessel attracted little interest given the poor state of the chemical-tanker trades.

An attempt to auction the ship in mid-November also drew little interest.

The Chem Orchid was on bareboat charter to South Korean tanker operator Sejin Maritime from Han Kook Capital Co when it was arrested because of an unpaid bunker bill in July last year. At the time of its arrest, it was en route from Indonesia to Russia with a cargo of palm oil belonging to Frumentarius of Cyprusand Mercuria Energy Trading of Switzerland.

Panama City-based Providence, which has no connection to a California-based shipmanager of the same name, appears to be a cash buyer in the demolition trades as all vessels purchased by the company over the past year were immediately sold on for scrap.

This could indicate that the Chem Orchid is destined to make one final voyage to the breaker’s beach.