Oaktree agrees tanker deal with Singapore's Navig8

According to a release, the joint venture has already placed an initial order of six 37,000 deadweight tonnage chemical tankers - together with a series of fixed price optional vessels - at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea to be delivered by the first quarter of 2015.

Navig8 manages a fleet of 210 vessels including chemical tankers, product tankers, crude tankers and dry bulk vessels out of nine global offices.

Asia's shipping industry could be an attractive proposition for private equity investors looking to ride the recovery of a sector undergoing restructuring. This might involve acquisitions of vessels or restructurings or existing fleets.

The sector has struggled ever since the global financial crisis when a flurry in shipbuilding was followed by a sharp drop in demand, leaving many already debt-laden firms to cope with the added pain of falling charter rates and a drop in the value of their vessels.

A number of large Asian shipping firms have already begun the restructuring process. South Korea's STX PanOcean - which received court approval to restructure in June - is so far the biggest shipping failure in the region with debt totaling $4.94 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's leading oil and gas shipper Berlian Laju Tanker reached a deal with creditors to restructure its $1.9 billion debt earlier this year.

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• Topics
• Investments
• Industrials
• Southeast Asia
• North Asia
• shipping
• Joint Venture
• South Korea
• Singapore
• Oaktree Capital