In a statement Gulf Navigation said that the judge hadrefused the creditors’ request for a court-mandated sale of the 299,000-dwt Gulf Sheba (built 2007).
The judge directedthe company and its creditors to come to an agreement on the fate of the vesselby the end of the month.
DNB seized the ship following a default inrepayment of interest and principal.
The ship was subsequently moved from the berth were itwas discharging cargo to an anchorage in the port area.
At the time of the arrest Gulf Navigation said it hadbeen discussing proposals from prospective buyers for the sale of the vessel.
The shipowner claimed to have been in the final stages ofagreeing on various terms in principle with “at least one serious buyer”.
According to vesselsvalue.com the ship is worth around$41.8m, less than half the $110m paid by the owner for the ship as a resale.
TradeWinds revealed in early August the Gulf Sheba wasone of two VLCCs which Gulf Navigation was looking to sell to aid its cash flowissues.
Last month saw Gulf Navigation also confirmed plans toexit the VLCC sector and concentrate on the chemical tanker segment.
It has beenstruggling with the difficult tanker markets. In May, it announced it was intalks with banks after defaulting on covenants in the face of mounting losses.
In addition tothe VLCCs, Gulf Navigation also has eight 46,000-dwt products/chemical tankersbuilt in 2010.
Four are owned by a 50-50 venture withStolt-Nielsen and operated by Stolt, while the other four are on long-termcharter to Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic).
