Otto Marine floundering under $1.16b debt pile

It is one of several oil & gas firms still struggling to float after a plunge in crude prices caused contracts to dry up.

According to Bloomberg, a Singapore shipping company rescued by its chairman just over a year ago faces collapse unless the courts step in, a sign that an earlier slump in oil prices is still reverberating.

Saddled with $1.16b (US$877m) in liabilities and creditors demanding payment, Otto Marine Ltd. is asking the Singapore High Court for protection. The shipbuilder wants to turn itself around under the court’s supervision and fend off creditors while it restructures its debt, according to its Feb. 20 application for judicial management, which was obtained by Bloomberg News.

“I cannot be expected to continue shouldering the financial burden and injecting fresh capital into the company,” Executive Chairman Yaw Chee Siew said in the application.

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