Nautilus Holdings Ltd News

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc's shares shot up to as much as $15.46 from 68 cents as the company cut its borrowings by about 80 percent after converting debt into equity under a financial restructuring program. The stock was the top percentage gainer on the Nasdaq, with more than 14.4 million shares being traded by 11.46 a.m. ET, over 10 times their 10-day daily average volume. Excess capacity in the past couple of years has forced several shipping companies to file for bankruptcy, including Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd, Overseas Shipholding Group Inc and Nautilus Holdings Ltd. The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, has fallen by about 50 percent in the past year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, the latest in a string of shipping companies to make a Chapter 11 filing, and said it reached agreement with its lenders to cut its debt by $975 million. The U.S. company said in a statement that creditors who hold more than 85 percent of its loans have voted in favor of a proposed reorganization plan. Getting creditor support for a "prepackaged" plan before filing for Chapter 11 can dramatically cut the time a company spends in bankruptcy. Eagle Bulk filed in Manhattan's U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Nautilus Holdings Ltd, a Bermuda-chartered company that leases containerships, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, becoming the latest victim of a depressed shipping industry. The company has about $770 million in debt, according to papers filed late Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. International shipping rates have fallen in recent years as large new vessels entered service at the same time that a sluggish global economy was curbing trade. Nautilus said it had some profitable charter contracts and believed it was well-positioned to restructure its obligations, but it filed for bankruptcy protection to bring creditors into a single forum for negotiations.