Rickmers Trust Management Prepays Debt to BNP Syndicate

Rickmers Maritime Rickmers Trust Management, the trustee-manager of Rickmers Maritime, has carried out a voluntary prepayment of loans worth USD 5 million. The payment relates to the senior loan facilities extended by the BNP Syndicate, comprised of BNP Paribas, ING Bank NV, Singapore Branch, The Bank of Nova Scotia Asia Limited, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited. The trust said that the payment was made to deleverage and save interest costs by utilising cash not available for other purposes. Furthermore, the trust added that it continues to engage the lenders in relation to its obligations and indebtedness. Rickmers Trust Management has two more weeks to come up with a plan that ensures a “higher level of total recoveries” than under a winding-up scenario of the firm, as stressed by its lender German HSH Nordbank. Earlier this month, HSH Nordbank dismissed the trusts debt restructuring proposal of Rickmers Maritime, which was related to the restructuring of SGD 100 million (around USD 71 million) notes due in May 2017. Consequently, the bank told Rickmers Maritime to prepare a revised restructuring proposal. In February, RTM said that Rickmers Maritime might be forced to wind up its business if the efforts to refinance its bank loans are unsuccessful.