Reporters were brought to the site where the the Singapore-owned Naniwa Maru No 1 oil tanker was anchored. The ship was hijacked by eight pirates at around 1am on Tuesday. They overpowered the 18-strong crew and robbed them. The pirates also siphoned diesel off the ship. Naniwa Maru 1 was brought to the Northport, Port Klang for investigations.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sumatec Resources Bhd’s associate company Semado Maritime Sdn Bhd, whose oil tankers Semua Mutiara and Semua Muhibbah are being detained in relation to a loan with outstanding principal of RM143.3mil, has defaulted on the loan payments.
The oil and gas operator told Bursa Malaysia that it had in 2008 issued a corporate guarantee to the bank, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd, for the shipping company but was liable only if the value realised from the sale of the vessels was less than the total amount outstanding.
“The realisable value of the vessels cannot be determined at this juncture since the disposal is still pending,” Sumatec said, adding that Bank Pembangunan had not made a call on the guarantee.
Sumatec, whose single biggest shareholder is Tan Sri Halim Saad, said the default in payment on Oct 18 and 19 was due to the delay in completing the sale of the vessels that were "arrested." ("Arrest" of ships refers to the detention or restriction on the removal of ships by court order.)
On Oct 11 and 12, Semado was served a writ of summons (maritime proceedings) and warrant of arrest on its vessels by Bank Pembangunan’s lawyers.
In return for the release of the vessels, Bank Pembangunan is claiming settlement of principal sum of RM143.3mil plus RM100,000 in cost.
Otherwise, it requires alternative security of RM165.2mil either through a first class bank guarantee or a letter of undertaking from a P&I club (a mutual insurance association that provides marine insurance through risk pooling) within seven days. The RM165.2mil includes the principal amount, interest at 5% up to Oct 4 of RM21.5mil and RM400,000 in cost.
According to Sumatec, Semado is arranging for inspection of the vessels by potential buyers and has requested for extension of time from Bank Pembangunan to complete the sale of these vessels.
Sumatec said the claim was not expected to have any significant impact on its business and operations.
“The financial impact to the company, if at all, is limited to the difference between the loan amount and the proceeds from the sale of the vessels,” it said.
Sumatec holds a 100% stake in Semado through 49%-owned Semua International Sdn Bhd (SISB).
Sumatec has been trying to sell SISB’s assets since 2013. In December 2012 it inked an agreement with “third parties” (based on its previous announcement, these parties comprised Singapore-based Hoe Leong Corp -- Sumatec’s then 49% equity partner in SISB -- and its nominees) to dispose its 51% equity interest in SISB for RM18mil as part of the debt settlement scheme with its collateralised bond obligations (CLO) bondholders.
However, it only received RM1.8mil (as of July 2013), representing the disposal value of 2% equity interest in SISB, from the purchaser.
The second tranche consideration of RM17mil, representing the disposal value of the remaining 49% equity interest in SISB, together with interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum, was scheduled to be paid within 24 months from Jan 31, 2013, i.e. the date the last approval was obtained from the CLO bondholders.
According to Sumatec’s 2015 annual report released on April 28, the third parties were however unable to fulfill the settlement obligation to the CLO bondholders.
Sumatec then entered into negotiation with a new third party for the disposal of the remaining 49% equity interest in SISB. As at Dec 31 last year, the third party -- which it did not identify -- had paid RM3.965mil towards the settlement obligation to CLO bondholders.
“The directors expect the sale to be completed in 2016,” Sumatec said in the annual report, noting that the 49% equity interest in SISB was pledged to CLO bondholders as security for a banking facility granted to the company.
In May, it emerged that R&A Telecommunication Group Bhd, a Guidance Note 3 company, had inked a non-binding term sheet with SISB to acquire a 100% stake in Semua Shipping Sdn Bhd (another subsidiary owned by SISB) for RM150mil as part of its regularisation plan. The purchase consideration was to be satisfied with new R&A shares.
Nothing seems to have come out of that proposal, with no regularisation plan submitted to Bursa Malaysia Securities to date. R&A was to be delisted on Sept 16 but the regulator then agreed to its appeal, giving it a further extension of time (until Dec 31) after R&A had identified another white knight, Synergy Goldtree Sdn Bhd.
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