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Rescued Otto Marine buckles under debt woes

Bloomberg Published on Fri, Feb 23, 2018 / 4:15 PM GMT+8

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SINGAPORE (Feb 23): A Singapore shipping company rescued by its chairman just over a year ago faces collapse unless the courts step in, a sign that an earlier slump in oil prices is still reverberating.

Saddled with US$877 million ($1.16 billion) in liabilities and creditors demanding payment, Otto Marine is asking the Singapore High Court for protection. The shipbuilder wants to turn itself around under the court’s supervision and fend off creditors while it restructures its debt, according to its Feb 20 application for judicial management, which was obtained by Bloomberg News.

“I cannot be expected to continue shouldering the financial burden and injecting fresh capital into the company,” Executive Chairman Yaw Chee Siew said in the application.