Singapore's Ezion Holdings has revealed another forced sale of a liftboat owned by a subsidiary.
China's SLH (Tianjin) Ship Leasing has bought the 5,545-gt vessel Teras Conquest 9 (built 2014) for $18.5m in cash.
VesselsValue puts a price tag of $19.24m on the vessel, which is laid up.
Ezion said the deal was executed by Singapore lender United Overseas Bank (UOB) as attorney-in-fact of Ezion's shipowning company TC9PL.
The bank has powers of attorney as mortgagee under financing agreements in relation to the liftboat.
The sale price takes into account the funds and time required to reactivate the vessel, and hire prospects.
Mortgage to be paid off
The proceeds will pay off UOB's mortgage, leaving a profit of $1.35m.
However, Ezion revealed the ship has racked up a loss of $42m in the nine months to 30 September.
"The disposal will allow the group to stop the incurrence of further operating costs and liabilities and will also allow the group to reduce its outstanding liabilities via the partial repayment of the secured bank loans," Ezion said.
China's SLH specialises in marine engineering and offshore ship chartering.
VesselsValue said in February that Ezion could offer more ships for sale following a deal by DBS Bank to offload the 6,700-gt Teras Fortress 2 (built 2015) for a surprisingly low price.
The ship is one of the two largest liftboats in the world fleet by leg length and was ordered with a sistership Teras Fortress (built 2014) for about $90m in 2012.
The Teras Fortress 2 was sold to Virgo Shipping in December for just $22m.
Rescue deal failed
In September, Malaysia's Yinson had pulled out of a deal to rescue struggling Ezion.
"Expect further softening of liftboat values as more Ezion/Teras units hit the market," VesselsValue head of offshore Robert Day told TradeWinds after that sale.
Markets are tough but offshore wind work is providing hope for owners of larger modern vessels.
Liftboats can rapidly raise their hulls clear of the water on their own legs to provide a stable platform from which maintenance and construction work may be conducted.
