Hermitage sells entire fleet as part of Chapter 11 auction

Offshore support vessel provider Hermitage Offshore has selected successful bids for the company’s vessels according to the bankruptcy procedures under Chapter 11 protection.

Hermitage, formerly known as Nordic American Offshore, said on Monday that the company’s lenders submitted the highest bid of approximately $80 million in aggregate for Hermitage’s ten platform supply vessels (PSVs).

The company added that this was the successful bid for the PSVs. The lenders’ successful bid for the PSVs constitutes a “credit bid” against Hermitage’s outstanding indebtedness and would not result in the receipt of any cash consideration by the company.

Hermitage added that eleven crew vessels would be sold to an unaffiliated third party that submitted a successful bid of around $5.3 million in cash, in aggregate.

The sale of the vessels remains subject to final approval of the bankruptcy court and definitive documentation between the company and the prospective purchasers.

To remind, Hermitage Offshore and 28 subsidiaries filed for voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in August amid a global oil price slump and coronavirus pandemic.

The company anticipated that its business operations and relationship with its customers and vendors would not be adversely affected by this proceeding while it works constructively with its lenders toward a consensual resolution.

The company’s customers are also afforded the “administrative” status and they will continue to receive uninterrupted service from the company and the company will perform all of its duties and obligations under its current and future charter party agreements.

In late September, Hermitage received notification from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that its common stock was suspended from trading as it fell below the continued listing standard requiring listed companies to maintain an average global market capitalization over a consecutive 30 trading day period of at least $15 million.

According to Hermitage, the hearing to review the delisting determination is scheduled to take place on 17 December 2020.

The company expects that its common stock will be quoted on the OTC Pink marketplace, operated by the OTC Markets Group, effective 24 September 2020.