Ship Mortgages

LISCR Welcomes Liberian Legislation

The Advisory Board of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), at its inaugural meeting, held in conjunction with the Annual Conference of the Connecticut Maritime Association, in Stamford, Conn., has set a positive agenda designed to drive forward the Liberian Registry's goal of achieving excellence in standards of quality and service. In his address to the CMA's lunch, Board chairman Rex Harrington reported that the Board had welcomed a number of developments but had also addressed critical issues facing the industry. The Board has set itself and LISCR a timetable to monitor progress and to ensure that the Liberian Registry continues to be the industry leader. The Board applauded the decision of the Liberian legislature to adopt major amendments to both maritime and corporate laws, noting, "We are greatly encouraged to see that LISCR's efforts to promote reform of the maritime and corporate law has met with such a positive response. The comprehensive package has been produced following worldwide consultation with professional users of the Liberian registers. It combines long-outstanding revisions to existing Liberian law with the introduction of corporate vehicles designed to reflect the needs of a changing market, particularly in relation to corporate structures. It balances the important objectives of security and continuity of ownership of assets with the need to satisfy the commercial requirements of due diligence."

Cammell Laird Close To Luxus Cruise Ship Contract

Cammell Laird Holdings, which has been a strong shipbuilding and repair success story for several years, announced that it was to build two cruise ships, breathing further life into the struggling U.K. shipbuilding industry. Cammell Laird, however, said the contract with Luxus (UK) Ltd. for two 28,000-ton ships was conditional on the go-ahead from the UK government and Shipbuilding Intervention Funding, as well as ship mortgage finance guarantees to Luxus's bankers.

Moore Stephens: Russia a Good Place to do Business

Shipping accountant and business consultant Moore Stephens says that, despite recent publicity to the contrary, Russia is now a better place to do business than it has ever been for small and medium-size enterprises, including shipowners. Writing in the latest issue of The Bottom Line, the newsletter of the Moore Stephens shipping industry group, Gavin Stoddart, managing director of Moore Stephens Russia, says, "The door to international finance and international markets is open

First Ship Lease Closes $100m Mezzanine Financing

First Ship Lease Ltd., a commercial finance company focused on diverse shipping assets, today announced the successful completion of a $100 million mezzanine financing facility. The mezzanine facility, combined with previous equity financing and senior debt to be raised on a transactional basis, allows First Ship Lease to provide in excess of $500 million in operating and finance leases to shipping and industrial companies that meet its credit criteria.

Horizon Offshore Completes $77M Refinancing

Horizon Offshore, Inc. has entered into a $77.4 million secured term facility agented by The CIT Group/Equipment Financing, Inc. (the CIT Group). The credit facility has a five year term and bears interest at LIBOR plus 4.5% per annum. The credit facility is payable in monthly installments of $0.9 million, plus interest, for the first 24 months beginning March 31, 2006 and $0.6 million, plus interest, for the next 35 months, with the remaining principal and

Growth in Asia-Europe Ship Traffic

According to thehindubusinessline.com, Asia-US container traffic grew to the order of 6.9 per cent in the first half of 2007, rising to around 8 per cent for the first nine months, relative to the same period in 2006. Analyst forecasts predict, on average, similar or slightly higher cargo growth for 2008. That is slower than the 9.6 per cent growth posted for the full year 2006 to 6.5 million 40-foot containers, but it, nonetheless, reflects considerable resilience among US consumers

“Maritime … Or Not?”

Here is a multiple choice question:  which of the following contracts is considered to be a “maritime contract” under U.S. law? -    (a) a shipbuilding contract -    (b) a ship-sale contract -    (c) a ship-repair contract, and/or -    (d) a ship mortgage You will be forgiven if you simply tried to apply logic in answering this question and guessed that all four are maritime contracts

NIC: Jones Act Has Not Interfered with Spill Cleanup

The National Incident Commander (NIC) issued a Fact Sheet stating that the Jones Act has not impeded response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill: “Currently 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the largest response to an oil spill in U.S. history. No Jones Act waivers have been granted because none of these vessels have required such a waiver to conduct their operations as part of the response in the Gulf of Mexico.

LISCR refocuses London office

The Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR), which manages the Liberian Registry, has refocused its London office in order to provide shipowners and IMO with more experienced technical support. LISCR has appointed Peter Kidman, former Intercargo technical manager, to head up the office. Kidman is an experienced master mariner who is also qualified in maritime law. He has extensive experience of working with international shipping authorities.

Making of Navy's Made-in-Nigeria Warship

Baring any last minute hitches, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye would, by October this year, launch the first made in warship. The ship has, however, passed its most difficult test of ship building and is currently being built at the Nigerian Navy Dockyard, Victoria Island, , by a team of naval engineers. With this exploit, the Navy has thus proved critics wrong on the ability of the present CNS to take up challenges.