OSV and rig owner and operator Swissco updated that the company has presented a restructuring plan to the bank lenders, but the bank lenders have not agreed to the proposed plan.
Swissco, had also requested the lenders for an informal standstill of its repayment obligations under their respective facilities, so as to allow Swissco to have sufficient time to manage its liabilities and work on the restructuring plan.
Singapore-listed Swissco earlier announced a grim scenario that it has $147.5m in debt maturing between now and 2020, and has just $1.2m in cash and a monthly cash burn of $1.5m.
Meanwhile, Swissco received notice from X-Drill Holding that the latter has obtained a court order in Equatorial Guinea for the arrest of three rigs, and that the rigs may thereafter be subject to a judicial sale.
Swissco also received a separate notice from X-Drill that a US court for the Southern District of Texas has ordered the sale of another rig. The judicial auction of the rig has been fixed on 21 November to take place at Corpus Christi in Texas.
Swissco and X-Drill have locked horns in a legal battle as X-Drill is claiming $1.85m in relation to services provided to Swissco’s rigs. Last month, Swissco obtained an interim order restraining X-Drill from filing for a winding up of the company.
Swissco diversified into the rig owning business in mid-2014 with a $230m acquisition of rig owner Scott and English Energy, just ahead of the sector's downward spiral from late-2014.
Today, the company has a fleet of seven drilling rigs. Swissco announced earlier that it intends to scrap four drilling rigs - two wholly-owned and two 50% owned. The company also co-owns three more rigs with compatriot Ezion Holdings but there are no plans to scrap these three units.
The restructuring plan proposed to the bank lenders states that Swissco's fleet include the three drilling rigs co-owned with Ezion and 35 OSVs. There had been discussions between Swissco and the lenders on the disposal of certain of the offshore vessels.
As Swissco faces dwindling cashflow, it has taken action to claw back $26.1m owed by Tyloo Investment Group over outstanding charter hire, and $5.2m owed by Nanjin East Star Shipbuilding and Jiangsu Skyrun Shipbuilding & Trading in relation to a refund following the rescission of two shipbuilding contracts due to delays in their completion.
Last month, Swissco was served a document described as a Notice of Acceleration issued on behalf of 55 individuals claiming to be noteholders. The notes relate to the series of SGD100m ($71m) on 5.7% due 2018 issued under the SGD300m multicurrency medium term note programme.
The 55 individuals stated in the document that they may take legal steps to enforce repayment of the notes.
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