Supply Boats Auctioned off

On a gray Wednesday morning, five supply and anchor handling tug supply boats were auctioned off on the U.S. Federal Courthouse steps in Lafayette, Louisiana. About 26 people attended the auction with ten registered bidders signing in and showing proof of deposit. At 10:00 o’clock a.m. after the Clerk of the Court read the court orders and terms and conditions of the sale, individual bidding started on the 180’ x 40’, 2700HP “Seacor Osprey” at $5,000. The “Osprey” had been originally built as a straight platform supply vessel by Halter Marine in 1981, converted to an oil recovery / emergency response vessel in 1994 and had been cold-stacked since 2001. Bids slowly increased at $5,000 increments to $50,000, at which time she was sold to Hossain Jalabadi of Diversified Engineering Services, Inc. of Houston, TX. Next on the block was the 190’ x 40’ “Kodiak Island”, a 3,900BHP anchor handling tug supply boat built in 1980 by Halter Marine. Bidding also started at $5,000, first increasing by $5,000 increments and then jumped from $15,000 to $200,000. The vessel was finally sold for $275,000 also to Diversified Engineering Services who had purchased the “Osprey”. The 198’ x 42’ AHTS “Seacor Rebel” built in 1983 by Moss Point Marine and powered by a pair of EMD 16-645CE2’s totaling 3,900BHP started off bids at a low $5,000, immediately jumped up to $500,000 and then continued at $5,000 – 45,000 increments until reaching a high of $805,000 which was bid by Jettco, LLC. The remaining two vessels, the 230’ x 42’, 3900HP “Gulf Yankee” (ex-Seacor Yankee) built in 1982 by Moss Point and lengthened in 1996 and the 248’ x 44’ diesel electric, dynamically positioned “Gulf Frontier” (ex-Gulf Frontier) built in 1981 by Halter and lengthened / converted to a “new generation” PSV for deepwater service in 1996 were both bought back by the creditors. Once individual bidding completed, all five vessels were offered “in globo” (en-bloc) with bidding to start at $3,580,000. No bids were received and the vessels were awarded to the individual highest bidders “as is, where is” and free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and pre-existing claims whether recorded or otherwise. The “Gulf Yankee” and “Gulf Frontier” are now available for negotiated resale through Marcon International, Inc. who handled the marketing of the auction and are acting as exclusive brokers on behalf of the Owners. Although the auction was restricted to only U.S. buyers, the vessels are now available for sale to either foreign or domestic buyers on an “as is, where is” basis. However, any sale to a foreign buyer will have to be contingent on MARAD approval to be obtained by the foreign buyer. Further details on both vessels can be found on Marcon’s website www.marcon.com and price guidance is available on request. “Seacor Osprey” and “Kodiak Island” are expected to depart the “oil patch” and work in Caribbean cargo trade and “Seacor Rebel” is expected to go back to work as an offshore tug supply boat for the new Owners.