AsiaOffshore

EMAS Offshore fails to meet Seabird’s demands for millions

EMAS Offshore has failed to meet demands set out by Seabird Exploration in the wake of two bareboat charters being scrapped on March 17. Seabird canned the charters of the Lewek Toucan and Lewek Pelican to the struggling Ezra Holdings-linked venture in the two weeks ago, demanding nearly $54m in compensation for the failure to stick to the contract, of which around $17.5m had to be paid within 10 days, something EMAS Offshore has failed to do. Seabird has said it intends to keep around $36m from the original charterers’ credit agreement signed last year. Seabird’s legal team is now looking at how to proceed against EMAS Offshore.

EMAS Offshore, an offshore marine construction contractor held by Ezra, is suspended from trading in both Singapore and Oslo for its failure to publish its annual results on time.

Earlier this month, Chinese banking giant ICBC terminated the bareboat charter of another EMAS Offshore ship, claiming $194.5m against the struggling company. Ten days ago EMAS Offshore admitted it might not be able to carry on as a going concern with sister firm Ezra recently filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.

Another Ezra-linked entity, Emas Chiyoda Subsea, also filed for bankruptcy protection in the US.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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