German duo face forced vessel sales
Verfasst: Mo 24. Okt 2011, 15:44
German duo face forced vessel sales
Over 20 ships managed by Global Hanseatic and Phoenix Reederei may have to be sold off as funds face insolvency.
More than 20 vessels managed by Germany’s Global Hanseatic Shipping (GHS) in Hamburg and Phoenix Reederei in Leer are under threat of being sold off because they are haemorrhaging cash and unable to repay bank loans.
Their plight is being blamed on the weak freight markets but it also underlines the crisis facing numerous KG (limited partnership) ship funds.
Investors in the GHS and Phoenix ships, funded through Leer-based emission house Gesellschaft fur Handel und Finanz (GHF), risk losing tens of millions of Euros.
Five mini-bulkers funded through GHF have already been idled near Falmouth, southern England, after the funds filed for insolvency.
The ships are named as the Global Hermes, Global Helios, Global Hera (all built 2006), Global Hestia (built 2007) and Global Hemera (built 2008). All were built in China and are around 7,500 dwt.
GHF confirms that the equity at risk in the five vessels totals EUR 20.7m ($28.5m), while EUR 37.1m is owed to Bremer Landesbank. Some 623 investors are involved.
The quintet had to be bailed out in 2009/2010 when EUR 1.29m in additional capital had to be injected but this failed to solve matters and the individual funds were forced into administration.
GHF confirms EUR 120m in equity has overall been provided by investors for the 20-plus vessels.
Another said to be at risk is the Phoenix-managed, 510-teu containershipNordertor (built 1998).
The 20 or so cash-strapped vessels comprise a mixture of multipurpose (MPP) tonnage, feeder containerships and bulkers. Big capital losses are likely given the weak freight markets and impact on asset values.
The situation is mainly blamed on the “unpredictable long-term market” by GHF managing director Lubbe Stecker.
He declines to comment on potential job losses among the approximately 100 staff of GHF and Phoenix, who share the same offices in Leer.
Another company in the East Friesland town, however, claims there have already been redundancies and people had been in its office seeking work.
Stecker denies that either emission house GHF or manager Phoenix will close in the near future.
Bjorn Nullmeyer, Bremer Landesbank’s head of shipping, says the vessels in GHF’s Global Bulker 1, 2 and 3 funds issued in 2007 and 2008 have been the subject of a loan-restructuring agreement for the past two-and-a-half years.
The bank had been willing to continue assisting but investors decided not to put in further additional cash.
Consequently, Bremer Landesbank withdrew from further funding and the ships subsequently entered the insolvency process.
Nullmeyer says he is unaware at this stage what will happen to the five mini-bulkers, although there is talk in Germany of them being placed in a separate company to continue trading until asset values improve.
GHS and Phoenix, with whom Bremer Landesbank is not connected, find themselves in a similar plight to many other managers or owners in Germany, where banks are unable to roll over debt-restructuring agreements into a fourth year. Vessels are in default if normal repayments are not resumed.
Olaf Helmke, who is assisting the preliminary insolvency administrator, Ralph Bunning, tells TradeWinds that no decision has been made on the fate of the mini-bulkers. It hinges on what the creditors, especially Bremer Landesbank, decide.
“There are no concrete concepts yet,” said Helmke.
“Our goal is to support any restructuring efforts.”
GHF claims that in 2010 it had 8,445 investors in a total of 72 shipping funds and private placements. A couple of the mini-bulkers may have involved private placements.
The emission house’s total fleet comprises 14 tankers, 33 MPP vessels and containerships, eight bulkers and two special-purpose vessels.
Although more than 20 ships have been talked about as in serious trouble, some sources speculate that the figure could be as high as over 30.
By Geoff Garfield London
Over 20 ships managed by Global Hanseatic and Phoenix Reederei may have to be sold off as funds face insolvency.
More than 20 vessels managed by Germany’s Global Hanseatic Shipping (GHS) in Hamburg and Phoenix Reederei in Leer are under threat of being sold off because they are haemorrhaging cash and unable to repay bank loans.
Their plight is being blamed on the weak freight markets but it also underlines the crisis facing numerous KG (limited partnership) ship funds.
Investors in the GHS and Phoenix ships, funded through Leer-based emission house Gesellschaft fur Handel und Finanz (GHF), risk losing tens of millions of Euros.
Five mini-bulkers funded through GHF have already been idled near Falmouth, southern England, after the funds filed for insolvency.
The ships are named as the Global Hermes, Global Helios, Global Hera (all built 2006), Global Hestia (built 2007) and Global Hemera (built 2008). All were built in China and are around 7,500 dwt.
GHF confirms that the equity at risk in the five vessels totals EUR 20.7m ($28.5m), while EUR 37.1m is owed to Bremer Landesbank. Some 623 investors are involved.
The quintet had to be bailed out in 2009/2010 when EUR 1.29m in additional capital had to be injected but this failed to solve matters and the individual funds were forced into administration.
GHF confirms EUR 120m in equity has overall been provided by investors for the 20-plus vessels.
Another said to be at risk is the Phoenix-managed, 510-teu containershipNordertor (built 1998).
The 20 or so cash-strapped vessels comprise a mixture of multipurpose (MPP) tonnage, feeder containerships and bulkers. Big capital losses are likely given the weak freight markets and impact on asset values.
The situation is mainly blamed on the “unpredictable long-term market” by GHF managing director Lubbe Stecker.
He declines to comment on potential job losses among the approximately 100 staff of GHF and Phoenix, who share the same offices in Leer.
Another company in the East Friesland town, however, claims there have already been redundancies and people had been in its office seeking work.
Stecker denies that either emission house GHF or manager Phoenix will close in the near future.
Bjorn Nullmeyer, Bremer Landesbank’s head of shipping, says the vessels in GHF’s Global Bulker 1, 2 and 3 funds issued in 2007 and 2008 have been the subject of a loan-restructuring agreement for the past two-and-a-half years.
The bank had been willing to continue assisting but investors decided not to put in further additional cash.
Consequently, Bremer Landesbank withdrew from further funding and the ships subsequently entered the insolvency process.
Nullmeyer says he is unaware at this stage what will happen to the five mini-bulkers, although there is talk in Germany of them being placed in a separate company to continue trading until asset values improve.
GHS and Phoenix, with whom Bremer Landesbank is not connected, find themselves in a similar plight to many other managers or owners in Germany, where banks are unable to roll over debt-restructuring agreements into a fourth year. Vessels are in default if normal repayments are not resumed.
Olaf Helmke, who is assisting the preliminary insolvency administrator, Ralph Bunning, tells TradeWinds that no decision has been made on the fate of the mini-bulkers. It hinges on what the creditors, especially Bremer Landesbank, decide.
“There are no concrete concepts yet,” said Helmke.
“Our goal is to support any restructuring efforts.”
GHF claims that in 2010 it had 8,445 investors in a total of 72 shipping funds and private placements. A couple of the mini-bulkers may have involved private placements.
The emission house’s total fleet comprises 14 tankers, 33 MPP vessels and containerships, eight bulkers and two special-purpose vessels.
Although more than 20 ships have been talked about as in serious trouble, some sources speculate that the figure could be as high as over 30.
By Geoff Garfield London