Offshore accommodation specialist Prosafe has further extended its standstill agreement with China’s Cosco Qidong shipyard for two semi-submersible accommodation rigs, Safe Nova and Safe Vega.
In addition, the flotel owner is keeping its newbuild unit Safe Eurus in a preserved, strategic stacking mode at the shipyard while negotiations continue with Cosco to find a workable commercial solution.
Prosafe said on Thursday it continues to work with Cosco to find a commercial solution for the three units that currently reside in shipyard in China.
According to the company, the standstill agreement related to Safe Nova and Safe Vega has recently been extended until April 20, 2018. The previous standstill agreement expired in December.
Executing its plans on fleet renewal, Prosafe bought these two accommodation rigs from Axis Offshore late last year while they were still being built by the Chinese shipyard. At the same time, the delivery of Prosafe’s Safe Eurus unit was also pending. Namely, Prosafe in July 2016 agreed with Cosco to postpone the delivery of the Safe Eurus to 4Q 2019 amid refinancing efforts.
Prosafe reiterated it remains in negotiations with COSCO and related parties for a workable commercial solution for Safe Nova and Safe Vega. If no agreement is reached, Prosafe stated it has the right to claim cancellation of the newbuild contracts due to delay, and claim repayment of the installments paid including interest of about $60 million in total, secured by a refund guarantee from Bank of China.
Offshore Energy Today Staff