As to point #1: Could you expand upon what you are considering “The existing scraps” just so it’s clear what you are referring to?
As to point #2, I’m an engineer not a financier, however my understanding/assumption is that obtaining corporate financing for a large capital asset like a vessel is contingent on the likelihood and ability to cover the note. Granted, 15 years of failing drillship companies would prove thats not always the case. US shipping companies that build JA ships are currently solvent are they not? (disregarding any Covid impact). Do you have any real input from JA majors as to what the actual barriers to financing are? Banks have a vested interest in making money, and there is plenty of history to suggest they are not of such high morals as to not lend to one company at the detriment to another if they though it could be profitable. If you want viable creative solutions then you need a more detailed/defined problem than simply no one will give us money. Why? (And I don’t think “politics” is a detailed enough answer).
I’ve made the point elsewhere that, while not new or particularly creative, simply replacing the build with a repair requirement has the potential to drastically change the JA shipping climate. Reference my Post # 7, 15, 17, 19, 22 in End the Jones Act? Ask Alexander Hamilton - #7 by shipengr. So I won’t rehash them here, but would be happy to expand or clarify my view if requested.
A agree there must be a change, a fix. And I sincerely hope you are driving at something behind the scenes.