Page 5: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2002)

VT Finalizes Halter Deal

Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. (VTS) completed its asset purchase of

Halter Marine, through its subsidiary,

VT Halter Marine, Inc. The new compa- ny, VT Halter Marine, Inc. (VTHM), will continue to provide products that have made Halter vessels known world- wide. Anil Raj, president and COO of

VT said, "We're ready to move on to the next challenge of selecting the projects the new company will undertake.

VTHM plans to continue the existing design and construction projects for the

U.S. Government. VTHM will also be geared to offer ship-repair services for both naval and commercial vessels."

VTHM will headquarter its corporate operations in Gulfport, Miss., with seven facilities located in Pascagoula,

Moss Point, Port Bienville, Lockport and Gulfport, which are located along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Expensive Break Up

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. con- firmed that the Board of P&O Princess

Cruises withdrew its recommendation of the merger agreed between the two companies in November 2001. Richard

Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal

Caribbean, said: "Clearly, we regret that the Board of P & O Princess is taking this action." The break up was not cheap for P&O Princess, though, which had agreed to a $62.5 million break up fee.

Amer Climbs Out

Of Bankrupcy

Amer Reefer Company Ltd, the oper- ator of seven modern reefer vessels, has completed the restructuring of its $100 million 10.25% bond issue (preferred ship mortgage notes due 2008) placed in

March, 1998. The Bond Trustee has confirmed that all outstanding bonds were cancelled for a consideration of $0.67, (and ownership of the ships has returned to the restructured Company and its shareholders.) At the same time, the New York Court from whom Amer had sought protection under the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code in March, 2001, confirmed that all proceedings against the Company have been withdrawn and all obligations discharged and Amer

Reefer has emerged from Chapter 11. $43 million has been provided by a syndicate of banks headed by Nordea

Bank, Oslo, to finance the emerging owning structure upon cancellation of the Amer Reefer Notes. Protracted liti- gation and negotiations have taken place via the New York Court and Judge

November, 2002 7

Arthur Gonzales. Additional sums required to cancel these notes, including interest paid since July 2002, are esti- mated to aggregate nearly $46 million

Mandate Shipping, owners of 100% equity in the Amer Reefer Co), will con- vert the 33% of the bonds it holds in

Amer, into equity in the company.

The $5 Billion Market

Marine propulsion systems are expect- ed to grow to become a $5 billion mar- ket by 2007, according to a new study

The World Marine Propulsion Report, by analysts Douglas-Westwood. Over the next five years vessel tonnage deliv- ered by yards is expected to increase by

News four percent while vessel numbers fall by 10 percent. However, total propul- sion power should increase by eight per- cent when compared to the 1997-2002 period. T "We expect that there will be an increasing market share for Chinese shipyards, mainly at the expense of

Japanese yards. "Amongst the engine

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