Hermitage Offshore Services Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection, its business of providing support for oil-drilling operations battered by the coronavirus pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Tuesday filing in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York automatically staved off creditors of Hermitage, which operates mostly in the North Sea and off the West Coast of Africa. Bankruptcy followed forbearance agreements that bought Hermitage time with lenders DNB Bank ASA of Norway and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB of Sweden, which are owed nearly $133 million. Hermitage pledged 10 platform supply vessels and 11 crew boats to the banks in January as security to refinance the loans. Hermitage has been issuing public warnings about its financial troubles and losses for months. The Bermuda-based company last month reported “a significant and abrupt deterioration in the financial condition,” raising substantial doubt that it could stay in business. Behind the distress was the one-two punch of pandemic distress and diving crude oil prices that have felled dozens of other energy companies.
