US based offshore service vessel provider Tidewater has filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court.
The move comes a month after the company was warned it could be delisted from the NYSE after it fell below the minimum average 30-day price required for listing.
The application is intended to help the company pursue a reorganisation plan, linked to their previously announced restructuring support agreement.
Tidewater’s president Jeffrey Platt said: “After much thought and successful negotiations with certain of our economic stakeholders, we decided that commencing the chapter 11 cases was necessary to create financial stability which would allow Tidewater to remain a formidable competitor given this unprecedented industry downturn.
“Throughout the chapter 11 process, we anticipate meeting ongoing obligations to our employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, and others. We will continue to provide our customers with dependable, high-quality services.”
Tidewater intends to reject certain sale-leaseback agreements for leased vessels currently in the company fleet, and to limit the resulting rejection damage to $131 million.
But the company also said that the Sale Leaseback Parties dispute this amount, and the final value will be subject to litigation.
The firm’s restructuring plan is supported by lenders holding about 60% of the outstanding principal amount of loans under the credit agreement.