NEW ORLEANS - Deepwater offshore service and special
purpose vessels are appreciating in value while the inland market has been
somewhat stable.
That was one of the messages at a wide-ranging panel
discussion on asset valuation and restructuring here at the WorkBoat Executive Summit Tuesday.
One of the key determinants of value has traditionally been
the cost of steel—what it would cost to build a new one, said Dennis Bolton,
manager of equipment management at Wells
Fargo Equipment Finance Inc.
“Are you truly relying on just cost approach or do you
actually have some market analysis and market comparables,” he said.
On the bluewater side, size is key. New 18,000-TEU vessels
are really going to put some pressure on existing tonnage. “You’ll see the
cascading effect of larger vessels replacing smaller ones,” said Ken Becker,
director, AMA Capital Partners, New
York.
When a loan or lease becomes delinquent, “You begin to arm
yourself possibly for a bankruptcy,” said Nathan P. Horner Jr., a lawyer with Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin &
Hubbard in New Orleans. And the reorganization process can last years.
And, Becker said, “Chapter 11 doesn’t really help you unless
you know what you want to do on the other side.”
In discussing the federal court process of asset seizure,
Horner noted that maritime liens don’t have to be recorded.
In any distress
situation, “trend monitoring is important,” Bolton said, citing as an example
the decline in coal. “You know there’s going to be some operators out there
that are heavily reliant on coal.”
Bolton also identified two basic types of marine clients:
those who want to own vessels and those more concerned with day rates.
“It’s important to understand when structuring a transaction
which client you’re dealing with,” he said. “Rather than looking at what the
returns are, it’s much more important to understand what the drivers are.”