Us Bankruptcy Court News

Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill has asked creditors to write off more than 85% of its debts in exchange for a 99% stake in the reorganized company, a court filing showed.The Oslo-listed firm controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen in February filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, the second time it has done so in four years.Seadrill has in the past year written off billions of dollars worth of assets due to a bleak outlook for the oil sector…

Long Island-based barge operator Bouchard Transportation has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after several years fraught with legal and financial difficulties.The family-owned oceangoing tug and petroleum barge firm filed alongside several of its subsidiaries Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.According to the filings, Bouchard has between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors, liabilities between $100 million and $500 million and assets worth between $500 million and $1 billion.

Offshore vessel owner Hermitage Offshore Services, hit by prolonged low oil prices and business fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, said it has voluntarily filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.New York-listed Hermitage, part of the Scorpio Group, said it filed for Chapter 11 after failing to reach a financial restructuring deal with lenders out of court."While the company would have preferred to complete its financial restructuring out of court, it was unable to reach a consensual agreement with its lenders, which made filing Chapter 11 necessary to provide a single forum for all continuing conversations with its lenders…

Hornbeck Offshore Services has filed for chapter 11 to implement a prepackaged reorganization plan, according to a court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston.The U.S.-based offshore vessel owner with more than $1 billion in long-term debt announed in March that it was negotiating wth lenders a restructuring support agreement and said it was moving toward a preackaged chapter 11 filing in the Southern District of Texas.In April, New York-listed Hornbeck struck a comprehensive…

The offshore supply vessel (OSV) industry has emerged from its 2017 trough, thanks in large part to a slight shrinkage of the active fleet, a string of debt restructurings, improved cost management, and an uptick in drilling activity in a few regions. The industry is far from healthy, though, and the climb back to financial well-being will likely be long and unsteady. Not every operator will survive. And even though we’ve seen some improvement from 2017 levels, leverage ratios remain sky-high, the supply of vessels far outstrips demand, and—most crucially—the price of oil remains volatile.

Pacific Drilling  announced that a special purpose wholly owned subsidiary of the Company intends to offer $700 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured first lien notes that mature five years following their issuance, subject to market conditions.The notes are being offered in connection with the restructuring of Pacific Drilling as part of the First Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on August 31, 2018.The net proceeds of the offering will be funded into an escrow account  established and maintained by the Escrow Issuer. If Pacific Drilling’s proposed Plan is confirmed and certain other conditions are satisfied on or before December 22…

Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark said it has acquired the assets of Alabama-based Horizon Shipbuilding, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2017.Metal Shark will assume ownership of Horizon’s fully developed 35-acre shipbuilding facility in the Mobile Bay region, following a motion approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Alabama on June 5, 2018.The Horizon facility, which features separate east and west yards both fronting a dredged deepwater inlet…

Drilling rig company Seadrill said in a court filing it postponed an initial hearing on its restructuring plan to Feb. 7, which sources told Reuters will give the company more time to consider alternative restructuring plans. Once the largest drilling rig operator by market value, Seadrill filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas on Sept. 12 after being hit hard by cutbacks in oil company investment following a steep drop in crude prices. Wednesday's court filing also said the deadline for objecting to Seadrill's plan had been extended to Feb.

Owners of unsecured bonds in rig firm Seadrill have posted a cash deposit to back an alternative financial restructuring, paving the way for talks with the drilling operator over its future, the two sides said on Monday. Seadrill, once the largest drilling rig operator by market value, filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court on Sept. 12 after being hit hard by cutbacks in oil company investment following a steep drop in crude prices. The company's main owner, Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen…

CGG SA announces that all creditor classes entitled to vote on the chapter 11 plan proposed in the chapter 11 cases commenced on 14 June 2017 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York by CGG SA’s 14 main foreign, direct and indirect subsidiaries, each a borrower or guarantor in respect of CGG Group’s funded financial indebtedness, have accepted the plan overwhelmingly. Specifically, all holders who have cast ballots in respect of the Secured Loans, and 97.14% in number and 97.96% in amount of those casting ballots in respect of the Senior Notes, voted in favour of the plan. Reuters reported that CGG has debt in excess of $3 billion…

Subsea 7 S.A. said it has acquires certain businesses of EMAS Chiyoda Subsea (ECS) under a U.S. bankruptcy code Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization, confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and became effective on June 29, 2017. According to Subsea 7, it will pay less than $100 million in aggregate, including its contribution to the Debtor in Possession credit facility, to acquire the ECS businesses, the Ingleside spoolbase and other assets. “In a challenging business environment our differentiated offering and strong capital discipline has enabled us to pursue this opportunity. This targeted investment enables Subsea 7 to accelerate its strategy to provide a market leading service in the Middle East,” said Subsea 7 CEO, Jean Cahuzac.

Shipping company Toisa Ltd filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy as falling demand for the Bermuda-chartered company's oil-and-gas supply vessels left it running short of cash, according to court documents. Toisa, owned by Greek shipping magnate Gregory Callimanopulos, has a global fleet of 26 offshore oil service vessels, 13 tankers and seven bulk ships, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The ship operator said it had more than $1 billion in debt in court documents.

US creditors of Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. objected to the Korean courier’s efforts to secure a New Jersey bankruptcy court approval of an asset sale to Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), reports WSJ. Geneva-based MSC, the world’s second largest container operator by capacity, has offered $78 million for container terminal in  Long Beach, Calif. A group of container companies and other creditors concerned that Chapter 15 debtor Hanjin rushed through a sale of equity interest in Total Terminals International LLC and Hanjin Shipping TEC Inc. earlier warned that Hanjin may not have fetched the best offers and may sidestep outstanding debts without closer scrutiny. According to the report, in court papers filed Friday with the U.S.

South Korean ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping Co. signed a deal to sell its stake in the U.S. port operator that runs Long Beach, Calif.’s, biggest container terminal to Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), reports WSJ. Hanjin, which for bankruptcy protection in August, had signed a contract to sell its 54% stake in Total Terminals International LLC to Geneva-based MSC, the world’s second largest container operator by capacity. The exact value of the deal wasn’t known. The Seoul Central District Court handling Hanjin’s insolvency proceedings approved the deal on the condition it also is endorsed by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. port authority. Hanjin owned a 54% stake in Total Terminals International, while MSC had controlled the remaining 46%.

Paragon Offshore Plc said on Friday it was evaluating its options after a U.S. judge rejected the offshore rig contractor's plan to exit bankruptcy, an unusual setback for a corporate Chapter 11 proceeding. In an oral ruling in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware, Judge Christopher Sontchi said the plan was not feasible because it removes too much cash from the company during the current downturn. The ruling does not preclude the company from a restructuring under a different plan, he said. "The company continues to believe, but cannot provide any assurances, that a positive resolution of the company's restructuring process can be achieved," Paragon said in a statement following the ruling.

The status of Hanjin Shipping and the disruptions caused by its bankruptcy to the American shipping community, as well as global supply chains, was examined closely by the Federal Maritime Commission during the closed session of the September 20, 2016 public meeting. Commissioners were briefed by staff from the Office of the General Counsel; the Bureau of Trade Analysis; the Bureau of Enforcement; and the Office of Consumer Affairs & Dispute Resolution Services about a variety of developments related to the insolvency of Hanjin Shipping. Topics addressed included: proceedings in the U.S.

Parent group transfers $36 mln to troubled shipper. It may cost over $150 mln to unload stranded cargo. The chairman of Hanjin Group transferred 40 billion won ($36 million) to Hanjin Shipping on Tuesday to help unload cargo stranded on the troubled shipper's vessels, a spokesman said, but regulators warned securing further funds could take "considerable time". The parent of Hanjin Shipping pledged last week to raise 100 billion won to help rescue cargo in the wake of the collapse of the world's seventh-biggest container shipper, including the 40 billion won from Chairman Cho Yang-ho. About $9 million pledged by Choi Eun-young, a former chairwoman of Hanjin Shipping, has also come in, the shipper said.

A Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd vessel is finishing unloading in California and scheduled to leave port on Monday, shipping industry officials said, as shareholders and executives associated with the South Korean firm pledged funds to help resolve the turmoil created by its collapse. The Hanjin Greece docked in Long Beach on Saturday after a U.S. bankruptcy court granted it protection and terminal operators agreed to take it. Truck drivers probably will begin moving containers from the Greece on Monday while the vessel prepares to leave late in the day for the Port of Oakland, said Teamsters spokeswoman Barbara Maynard and shipping traffic controllers.

A U.S. judge said on Friday he will grant Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd provisional protection from creditors in the United States, enabling some vessels to dock and unload at U.S. ports. South Korea's Hanjin asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to issue an order that would prevent creditors from seizing Hanjin ships or property, and allow cargo owners to make arrangements to retrieve goods stranded in warehouses. Sherwood said he would sign the order later on Friday. Earlier, the company received authority to spend the money needed to dock at U.S.

South Korea’s troubled container shipper Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd has filed for bankruptcy in the United States to protect its vessels from being seized by creditors, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hanjin filed for protection under chapter 15, the section of the U.S. bankruptcy code that deals with international insolvency matters, on Friday to a court in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, New Jersey. The company’s filing for rehabilitation, akin to chapter 11 in the U.S., in Seoul has roiled ports in the U.S. and beyond, as creditors seized ships and terminal operators refused to handle cargo. Hanjin's failure would be the largest container-shipping failure in history, dwarfing all previous carrier bankruptcies.

Russia’s PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) subsidiary SCF Tankers Ltd. has won an auction for nine arctic-going tankers that belonged Primorsk International Shipping Ltd. (PRISCO), who filed for chapter 11 protection in January 2016. The purchase deal is worth $215 million, and the auction results have been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is handling PRISCO’s bankruptcy case. SCF Tankers outbid Denmark’s Hafnia Tankers Ltd., who submitted a $208 million offer, the Wall Street Journal reported. The nine ships comprise one Aframax crude oil tanker: Zaliv Amerika (104,535-dwt); three LR2 oil product tankers: Zaliv Amurskiy (104…

Oakland's Outer Harbor Terminal filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday, two weeks after one of its biggest tenants said it was terminating a 50-year lease with the northern California port. Last month, Ports America, one of the largest marine cargo operators in the country, said it was shifting its business from the Oakland port to other cities along the West Coast, including Los Angeles and Long Beach. In a Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, Outer Harbor Terminal, which operates part of the Oakland port, listed both assets and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. The Port of Oakland, located on the shore of San Francisco Bay…

Facing a wave of lawsuits filed by workers recruited from India to work on the U.S. Gulf Coast, marine services company Signal International has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to help save its business and resolve litigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Accused of labor trafficking, marine services company Signal lost the first of many lawsuits filed against it by more than 225 Indian workers who say they were promised good jobs repairing rigs damaged by Hurricane Katrina. As many as 500 workers came from India to work for the company.