SEACOR Marine orders two new PSVs in China

Houston-headquartered SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SMHI) reports that it has entered into a new senior secured term loan of up to $391.0 million with an affiliate of EnTrust Global and separate agreements to build two platform supply vessels (PSVs) for a contract price of $41.0 million per vessel. “The new financing with EnTrust Global consolidates all our debt under a single facility maturing in 2029 and addresses $125.0 million of near-term maturities previously due in 2026 to The Carlyle Group,” said SEACOR Marine CEO John Gellert. The early redemption of $35.0 million of convertible debt eliminates approximately 10% of dilution overhang on the Company’s common stock. The new financing also allows us to retain financial flexibility and support our growth initiatives by financing up to 50% of our order of two PSVs. This order comes at a competitive price point and with an attractive delivery schedule of the fourth quarter of 2026 and first quarter of 2027 for each of the PSVs.

 These vessels expand and complement our PSV fleet as we implement our asset rotation strategy aimed at renewing our fleet with high-specification, environmentally efficient assets to replace older, lower specification assets. We will partly fund this new construction program with $22.5 million of proceeds from the sales of our last remaining AHTS vessels, marking our exit from the AHTS asset class effective January 2025.”

According to a form 8K filed with the SEC, the SEACOR Marine shipbuilding contracts have been placed with Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding. The PSVs are each 4,650 tons deadweight with a 1,000 square meter deck area and equipped with medium speed diesel engines and an integrated battery energy storage system for higher fuel efficiency and lower running costs.

The PSVs are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, respectively. Up to $20.5 million of the commitments available under Tranche B of the 2024 SMFH Credit Facility may be used for payments under each PSV’s respective shipbuilding contract, for a total of $41.0 million of commitments available to put towards the cost of both PSVs. The parties expect to fully drawdown the funds available under Tranche B of the 2024 SMFH Credit Facility by the first quarter of 2027.