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ICBC terminates Emas Offshore charter, claims $194.5m against Ezra

Singapore’s offshore vessel operator Emas Offshore has announced that its subsidiary Lewek Champion Shipping has received a notice of termination from Hai Jiang 1401, a special purpose vehicle controlled by China’s ICBC Financial Leasing, to terminate the bareboat contract for a pipelay vessel Lewek Champion.

ICBC Financial Leasing claimed that Emas Offshore has defaulted on payment of $1.58m under the charter as part of a sale and leaseback agreement signed in February 2014. The purchase price of the vessel under the agreement was $200m.

The Lewek Champion has been detained by Huisman Equipment BV in Xiamen, China since February 18.

Emas-AMC, the sub-lessee of the vessel, has filed for bankruptcy and its parent EMAS Chiyoda Subsea also filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on February 28.

ICBC Leasing is also pressing claims against EMAS Offshore as charterer, and Ezra Holdings as guarantor, demanding a termination payment of around $194.5m within fifteen business days.

Ezra Holdings is also facing claims from VT Halter Marine and Forland Subsea over payment defaults by Emas Chiyoda Subsea, for which it had been the guarantor.

Shares in Ezra Holdings have dropped to new lows today, down more than 7% to just 1.2 Singapore cents.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.

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