PORTFOLIO

Long-standing Advisor to Leading Banks

Marsoft is a valuable link between banks and owners, banks and regulators, shipping teams and their credit committees.

Our close relationships with ship finance institutions have been the basis for a range of custom projects, a few examples are here.

Credit Rating

Problem: A top European shipping bank needed a Basel II-compliant risk evaluation, loan rating, and portfolio management system for its ship finance business.

Deliverable: Marsoft developed unique risk analytics that accounted for loss given default and the cyclical character of shipping.

Benefits: Regulatory capital requirements dropped from 8% to 6% on a $5 billion portfolio, saving $12 million annually.

Bank Financing – LNG tankers

Problem: A leading European shipping bank needed a risk assessment for financing four aging LNG tankers at a time of rapid technological change.

Deliverable: Marsoft developed custom valuations and future earnings projections under a range of LNG tanker market scenarios.

Benefits: Marsoft’s analysis enabled the bank to accurately assess residual value, align loan terms with risk management requirements, and substantially expand its LNG financing business.

Valuation Services

Problem: A major US Asset Manager, with billions in maritime lending and equity investments, required Marsoft to provide Valuation Agent services.

Deliverable: Marsoft conducts quarterly reviews of the portfolio, delivering independent valuations and performance assessments.

Benefits: The Manager has grown its maritime lending and equity portfolio significantly since working with Marsoft, expanding into new sectors and geographies.

BANKING
INDUSTRY

SHIPOWNERS
& INVESTORS

Four Decades Advising Leading Shipowners & Investors

Marsoft’s unique methodology was founded at MIT in the 1980s, and was first endorsed by the Norwegian Shipowner’s Association, serving as a mainstay for the shipping community ever since. Owners work with Marsoft because they value the rigor of our methodology and independent market view.

Tanker Fleet Acquisition

Problem: A Middle East investment fund considering an investment in a fleet of LR2 product tankers required financial due diligence on the project.

Deliverable: Marsoft developed a detailed assessment of supply/demand trends and market players, developing a range of scenarios to evaluate the investment returns and risks.

Benefits: Marsoft warned the owner of likely market deterioration and low forecasted returns. The market collapsed six months after the delivery of the research.

Owner – Scrubber Investment

Problem: A leading dry bulk owner asked Marsoft to conduct financial due diligence on a potential fleet-wide scrubber investment.

Deliverable: Marsoft’s modeling incorporated the initial investment, the HFO/VLSO differential, and the fraction of bunker cost saving the owner could capture. Marsoft implemented a proprietary financial model allowing the client to set and adjust parameters.

Benefits: Marsoft’s assessment demonstrated that the owner could expect a three-year payback period on the investment.

Tanker Fleet Debt Restructuring

Problem: An Italian owner sought Marsoft’s support to restructure debt on a fleet of Aframax tankers. The owner sought to ensure that their proposed restructuring was consistent with information available to the banks.

Deliverable: Marsoft provided vessel-specific scenarios of future earnings and residual value of the fleet, and the fleet’s debt service capacity under those scenarios.

Benefits: The owner successfully refinanced, retained control of the fleet, and ultimately sold the ships at a premium as market conditions improved.

Investment Evaluation

Problem: A leading London-based owner of a diverse fleet of dry bulk, tanker, containership, and LNG tonnage needed a standardized investment and reporting process.

Deliverable: Marsoft customized its FLAGSHIP evaluation system, creating proprietary valuation analytics, an in-house project database, and reporting tool to meet their unique requirements.

Benefits: Marsoft’s system provided consistent signals for both purchase and sale decisions, enabling the owner to build a fleet of more than 300 ships.

Trusted Third-party Support for
Charterers and Traders

Marsoft’s scenario-based methodology and ability to interpret trade demand vs ship supply supports charterers, traders and oil companies, as they evaluate key drivers & potential market outcomes in decision making. Charterers work with Marsoft because they need experienced third-party support to look beyond the data and guide their strategy.

Chartering Strategy

Problem: A Latin American oil major brought in new management for their tanker chartering division and asked Marsoft to evaluate the financial risks and benefits of their newbuild vs. charter-in strategies.

Deliverable: Marsoft modeled the cost and risk of their crude tanker chartering strategy. The cost of the long-term newbuilding charters (initially considered the best option) at the time was $48,000/day; Marsoft’s recommendation for existing tonnage averaged $32,000/day.

Benefits: Marsoft's support resulted in savings of nearly $6 million/ship/year.

Newbuilding Decision

Problem: A leading Chinese oil major evaluated partnering with a ship owner who would contract with a yard to build an MR product tanker and fix the ship on a long-term time charter with the company.

Deliverable: Marsoft evaluated the expected profitability of the long-term charter, taking into account newbuilding prices, long-term financing options, and short-term charter rates over the life of the charter.

Benefits: The third-party evaluation gave the Board the assessment it needed to make an investment decision.

CHARTERERS
& TRADERS

EXPERT WITNESS SUPPORT

Expert, Objective, and Proven

Marsoft’s senior experts have played vital roles in complex matters in court, arbitration, and regulatory settings. With many years of experience, exceptional qualifications, and unique databases from which to build upon, Marsoft has been successful in supporting our clients in a wide range of cases.

Mitigation Evaluation

Problem: A European LNG importer disputed the effectiveness of a supplier’s transportation cost mitigation strategy during COVID-related chartering reductions.

Deliverable: Marsoft evaluated ship deployment by importer and exporter, demonstrating unutilized mitigation opportunities and rate data showing greater cost savings available than reported by the LNG supplier.

Benefits: Marsoft provided expert witness testimony in arbitration. The outcome of the arbitration is confidential.

Investment Opinion

Problem: Management's plan to reorganize a bankrupt dry bulk shipowner was challenged as being unfair to the shareholders. Marsoft was asked to assess the underlying value of the assets and their future earnings capacity.

Deliverable: Marsoft prepared a fleet investment analysis based on its independent assessment of market developments Testifying in New York, we demonstrated that the activist overlooked bias in publicly available ordering data and demonstrated that management’s proposal was fairly priced.

Benefits: The courts rejected the activist investor’s suit and management’s investment plan was approved.