Reorganization Under Chapter News

Offshore vessel owner Hermitage Offshore Services has appealed against the New York Stock Exchange's move to delist its shares.Hermitage Offshore Services (previously known as Nordic American Offshore) on August 12 filed for a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, It cited a prolonged slump in global oil prices, driven in part by the global coronavirus pandemic, and its effect on the company’s business, as well as the inability to reach a financial restructuring deal with lenders out of court, as the reason for the move.Following Hermitage's Chapter 11 application, the NYSE then determined to initiate delisting procedures for the company’s common shares, to which the cash-strapped offshore vessel owner has now decided to appeal.

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…

Paragon Offshore Group announced that it has emerged from bankruptcy after completing a restructuring that eliminated USD 2.3 billion of debt. The successor company to Paragon Offshore PLC , which filed for bankruptcy in February 2016 with USD 2.96 billion of debt, also named a new board of directors. The search for a new CEO is underway. "The plan of reorganization under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code substantially de-levers the company’s ongoing business, eliminating  approximately $2.3 billion of secured and unsecured debt. New Paragon emerges with eight rigs currently operating plus a ninth rig expected to commence operations in August 2017…

Oilfield services firm Ezra Holdings of Singapore filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the weekend, blaming a prolonged slump in the energy industry, Reuters reported. Ezra  has been facing hostile actions from creditors at home and abroad as it struggles to recover from a slump in oil prices over the past three years. The company filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, according to a stock exchange filing on Sunday. Ezra will hold an informal meeting as soon as "reasonably practicable" to update and provide further information on the Chapter 11 filing to holders of its debt, it said in a separate statement. Ezra is one of several Singapore offshore and marine services firms that have been hit by a downturn in oil prices since in 2014.

As previously reported, Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) has been in discussions with its principal lenders and noteholders to amend the company's various debt arrangements to obtain relief from certain covenants. Pending the resolution of those discussions, the company received limited waivers from the necessary lenders and noteholders which waived compliance with these covenants until October 21, 2016. The company has now received extensions of these waivers until November 11, 2016. The company has previously reported that progress was being made in its negotiations with its principal lenders and noteholders to obtain the covenant relief sought…

U.S. based bunkering services firm Bunkers International Corp. announced August 28 that it has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Bunkers International and its affiliated companies were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after their primary lender ceased lending and swept all available cash, Bunkers International said in a press release. Bunkers International, a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in Orlando, Fla., along with its subsidiaries and strategic agencies…

Derecktor Shipyards Conn., LLC last month filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The company said the filing was the result of a single contract dispute, and that it is still busy and fully staffed, working on several newbuild projects, including a contract to build a massive 85.6-m motor yacht, a 45-m catamaran and a pair of tugboats for Boston Towing and Transport. In addition, the Derecktor yard in Connecticut has a building slot open starting September 2008, as well as a build slot available for delivery at the end of 2011/beginning of 2012. "The company has been engaged in lengthy negotiations to resolve issues relating to one of its contracts," said Paul Derecktor, president.

On July 18, 2008, Derecktor Shipyards Conn., LLC announced that the company filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The company said that it intends to maintain all normal business operations throughout the bankruptcy process. Its decision to file bankruptcy was a result of several factors, most notably issues relating to a contractual dispute. “The company has been engaged in lengthy negotiations to resolve issues relating to one of its contracts,” said Paul Derecktor, president of the company. Mr. Derecktor continued, “The action we have taken is a necessary step to preserve the company’s value for its creditors, customers, employees and other stakeholders as we work towards the future success of the company.

American Classic Voyages Inc., the largest U.S.-flag cruise company, announced on October 19 that it has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code in Wilmington, Del. The company has ceased operations for its Hawaii vessels, the ms Patriot and the ss Independence, following the completion of their last cruises. cease operation at the completion of each vessel's cruise following the announcement. The Delta Queen steamboat, the company's National Historic Landmark flagship, will continue to operate its scheduled future voyages. In addition, AMCV said it intends to work with Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S.

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, Inc., announced today that two out of its eight shipowning companies, Olympic World Cruises, Inc., the owner of the vessel Olympia Voyager, and Royal World Cruises, Inc. the owner of the vessel Olympia Explorer, have filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States bankruptcy code. The company has been in discussion with the lenders to these subsidiaries regarding a potential restructuring of $250.0 million in loans incurred to finance the acquisition of the two vessels. Discussions have not to date produced an agreement and the lenders have delivered a notice of acceleration of the loans. These loans are secured by mortgages on the two vessels and have been guaranteed by Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, the parent company.

In the fall of 1999, American Classic Voyages (AMCV) announced plans to almost singlehandedly revive the business of building cruise ships in the United States. Critics claimed it couldn’t be done, but the ships steadily took shape on the building ways in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Two years, a sour economy and horrific terrorist attacks later, the dream of building cruise ships in the U.S. is seemingly dead, as AMCV filed for Chapter 11 and the Maritime Administration is unwilling, at press time, to fund the ships further. While the cruise industry was hurting prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, the industry has been put into a seemingly perpetual tailspin as economic woes and fear of travel have conspired to leave ships far from full capacity.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that a bankruptcy court may extinguish maritime liens on vessels where the lienors are before the court, even though the ships are not within the jurisdiction of the court. A shipowner filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Defendant financial institutions, which held preferred ship mortgages, succeeded in getting the court to convert the action into an involuntary bankruptcy under Chapter 7. Plaintiff lienors filed maritime lien claims and contended that the bankruptcy court lacked authority to extinguish liens on ships that were not within the jurisdiction of the court. The bankruptcy court offered plaintiffs the opportunity to withdraw from the proceeding.