I received a letter in the mail from a law firm handling bankruptcy of ISG ( Waterman, Central Gulf, Sulfur Carriers, etc). I worked for them in 2011 but haven’t since. Anyone know the skinny on this? I have no claim against them anyway. The US merchant marine is imploding. ISG is International Shipholding Group out of Poydras St. In New Orleans.
Read the letter, it is the same thing that OSG did a few years back. It is called Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it is not full bankruptcy where the assets are liquidated to pay bills, Ch. 11 is what companies do to get out of long term contracts that they don’t want to be in.
In OSG’s case some CEO/VPs decided to lock in these amazing long term charter rates for ULCC/VLCC thinking that the price would never go lower, when it did go lower and stayed there OSG was committed to pay those boats to sit, at the time they declared Ch. 11 they had over 400 million in cash reserves but if they would have honored their agreements/contracts they would have lost quite a bit of that. Instead they use Ch. 11 to break their contracts in their favor and skate from their responsibility.
That is how the last Ch. 11 worked out that I was a part of so I will imagine ISG will be following the format.
What makes it weird is that Waterman had 3 MSP slots that they didn’t fill, the old Maersk Alabama, California, and something else I forget. Then they got rid of some of their car carriers to gain two Heavy Lift ships, the Ocean Globe and Giant, then they brought back one of the car carriers they got rid of, the Green Bay. The Energy Enterprise is going away as well.
Maybe lack of government cargo? I don’t get leaving the MSP money though.
The Energy Enterprise is on the beach in Alang. They bought at least one of the ex-TECO ships.