FSL – BT

FSL Trust secures $6m for vessel re-delivery

FIRST Ship Lease Trust (FSL Trust) has received US$6 million, an amount serving as security deposit and which it was entitled to following the non-fulfilment of contracts by the charterer of two vessels, one of which remains detained by a creditor.

The receipt of the sum follows the re-delivery by the customer of the two vessels. A re-delivery occurs when a lessee asks to return a vessel earlier than stated in a charter agreement.

In May, FSL Trust’s client Groda Shipping & Transportation re-delivered Verona I and Nika I to the trust, citing cashflow problems. Because the contracts were not fulfilled by Groda, Groda was required to pay the US$6 million.

‘The amount has now been released to FSL Trust upon the expiry of the stipulated default notice period,’ said FSL Trust’s trustee-manager. The US$6 million will be recognised as non-recurring revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

An S&P analyst had warned that the security sum could be in jeopardy because both vessels were seized in June.

Singapore-based Daxin Petroleum detained Verona I and Nika I in Shimotsu, Japan, and Qingdao, China, respectively, over claims that it had not been paid for bunkers it supplied to the vessels.

Verona I has since been released, after FSL Trust posted bail of about US$1.6 million with a Japanese court. Nika I remains in detention, with bail set at US$2.8 million.