Marine diamond miner Namibian Minerals (NMR-T) says it expects to receive payment of a US$9-million business interruption insurance claim with seven days after the claim was approved by its insurer.
The US$9 million will cover operating costs and loss of profits arising from an accident, which disabled the company’s Namssol seabed crawler in January of this year.
NamSSol was damaged during operations of the off the coast Namibia. The device’s tracks became lodged in 4-metre thick sediments some 70 metres under water in the company’sLuderitz Bay grant. The upper chassis was ripped apart from its undercarriage as the device was being hoisted to the deck of its support vessel.
An earlier US$1.5-miillion insurance settlement is covering the cost of repairs to Namssol. Those repairs are underway and should wrap up in the first quarter of 2002. The Company has negotiated a reduced charter rate for support vessel MV Kovambo until the end of the year.
Namco’s shares resumed trading on Nasdaq on Tuesday morning. The issue was greeted by a US62 or 71% drop to US25.5 to come in line with the share prices on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which at presstime was up 7 or 23% to 37. Nasdaq had halted trading in the company’s shares after it placed some of its subsidiaries in provisional liquidation thanks to the Namssol accident. The subsidiaries have since been removed from bankruptcy proceedings.
On Monday, Namco announced that it had drawn down US$2.6 million of a US$6-million bridging facility from the Leviev Group, its major shareholder with a 39% stake. The company has until the end of October to draw down the remaining funds. The loan, which bears interest at LIBOR (London Inter-bank Offer Rate) plus 2.5%, and is also subject to a 0.75% facility fee, has a term of three years from initial drawdown.
Proceeds from the business interruption claim have been put up as principal security for the loan.
Be the first to comment on "Namco awaits US$9-million insurance payment"