Norway's Siem Offshore has sealed a new financing deal with its banks and bondholders to avoid liquidity problems during the enduring offshore support vessel downturn.

The shipowner has won two more years to pay back its $1bn of borrowings and secured a waiver of financial covenants until 15 May.

The deferral and suspension of principal and interest was agreed less than two weeks after Siem Offshore had warned that "the extreme fluctuations in the financial markets over the past weeks" had resulted in a further deterioration of its liquidity...