MPC Container Ships (MPCC) is seeking to finance new scrubber retrofits, using the insurance payout from the recent constructive total loss (CTL) of the container ship AS Fortuna, in September 2018.
AS Fortuna ran aground on Guayaquil, Ecuador, as it was crossing Del Morro Channel, after experiencing a total blackout because of a failure in the engineering department. The ship was exposed to strong waves, until it was refloated in September.
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The CTL and the subsequent sale of AS Fortuna have led to a window of opportunity for MPCC to fund ship retrofits as it received an overall of $8.3 million after the incident. This amount contains net insurance proceeds of $6.5 million and $1.8 million received from the sale of the damaged ship.
According to the company, it will use the funds along with an 8.7 million equity injection, to equip scrubbers on 5 vessels, costing a total of $17 million.
MPCC also announced that it has ensured 10 scrubber installations in 2019, while it is also preparing to run all other ships on compliant fuel.
The scrubbers installations are expected to be completed by January 31, 2020.