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Displaying items by tag: Fred Olsen Energy

#BelfastLough - Fred. Olsen Energy, the Norwegian drillship,rig operator and owners of the yard that built RMS Titanic, is considering a debt and equity restructuring that would almost wipe out the value of its current shares, the company said.

With debt and liabilities of more than $840 million at the end of June, Reuters reports that Fred. Olsen last month stopped paying its creditors to preserve liquidity, making it the latest victim of a slow recovery in the oil and gas exploration sector.

The owner of seven drillships and rigs, as well as Belfast’s Harland & Wolff yard, has now received indicative, non-binding proposals from equity investors valuing its current shares and bonds at just $10 million, it said in a statement.

The company’s largest owner, Bonheur, which holds a 51.9 percent stake, separately said it had not decided whether to take part in the proposed refinancing.

Click HERE to read more on H&W.

Published in Belfast Lough

About Quarter Tonners

The Quarter Ton Class is a sailing class of the International Offshore Rule racing the Quarter Ton Cup between 1967 and 1996 and from 2005 until today.

The class is sailed by smaller keelboats of similar size and is likely the world's most-produced keelboat class.

The Ton, Half, Quarter, etc. 'classes' were each given a 'length' and yacht designers had almost free rein to work the hull shapes and measurements to achieve the best speed for that nominal length.

The Ton Rules produced cranky and tender boats without actual downwind speed. Measurement points created weird, almost square hull shapes with longish overhangs.

They were challenging to sail optimally and lost value very quickly as any new wrinkle (e.g. 'bustles') to take advantage of the rule made older boats very quickly uncompetitive.

Although its heyday was 30 years ago, the boat class continues to make its presence felt by holding its own in terms of popularity against some fern race fleets.