Singapore strains mount as ASL Marine seeks to issue shares

SINGAPORE (Oct 24): Strains are spreading in Singapore’s debt market as more firms in the maritime sector with borrowings coming due grapple with the slump in global trade and energy prices.

Shipbuilder and repairer ASL Marine Holdings on Friday proposed to raise $25 million by offering stock to existing shareholders and said it may seek additional loans to repay Singapore dollar notes due in March. Swissco Holdings, which supplies rigs and support vessels to oil and gas explorers, on the same day received a notice from its notes trustee stating that a potential event of default had occurred due to the firm’s failure to pay interest due earlier this month.

More companies in the city-state’s shipping and oil and gas services industries are facing difficulty meeting debt obligations. Shipping trust Rickmers Maritime said last week that it received a letter from lawyers representing some investors that are seeking to enforce repayment. Container throughput in Singapore shrank 8.7% in 2015 and the slide in crude prices over the past two years has hit the city’s firms that service offshore oil and gas rigs.

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