COSCO’s US$630m ghost vessel up for sale

Who will take the bait?

Cosco aims to catch the big fish in the market as it looks set to dispose its aborted vessel project worth US630m. OCBC noted that the deepwater drillship contract was terminated by Dalian Deepwater Development due to a delay in delivery of the vessel.

Now completed and sitting on Cosco’s books, the ghost vessel is up for grabs. Meanwhile, arbitration in London is still ongoing and the first instalment of US$110m has been refunded to the ship owner, along with interest payment of US$8.1m.

“However, we still do not have clarity on the eventual financial impact of the arbitration. Meanwhile, COSCO is in talks with potential buyers of the drillship,” said OCBC.