Rickmers admits scrapping youngest containership on record

Containership owner and lessor Rickmers Maritime last month denied having sold the seven-year-old boxship India Rickmers for scrap, but has since admitted to selling the vessel in relation to a settlement of senior loan facilities.    Singapore’s Rickmers Trust Management Pte. Ltd., acting as trustee-manager of troubled containership owner Rickmers Maritime, has admitted to scrapping the youngest containership on record.
   The containership owner and lessor Rickmers Maritime last month denied having sold the seven-year-old India Rickmers for scrap, but has since admitted to selling the vessel in relation to a settlement of senior loan facilities.
   Proceeds from the sale of the 4,250-TEU boxship will go primarily to paying back debt owed to the Singapore branch of Commerzbank AG, Rickmers said in a filing with the Singapore stock exchange.
   “The sale is not expected to lead to material loss in fourth quarter of 2016, as review for vessel impairment was carried out and recognized in the previous quarters,” the firm said.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the India Rickmers was most recently chartered to OOCL, serving on the carrier’s intra-Asia KTX2 loop, on which APL purchases slots.
   The KTX2 operates with three vessels with an average capacity of 4,350 TEUs. The service has a full port rotation of Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Laem Chabang, Shekou, Hong Kong, Xiamen and Osaka.