Icon Offshore issues letter of demand

PETALING JAYA: Icon Offshore Bhd has submitted a letter of demand to weekly magazine, Focus Malaysia, to retract an article that alleged that Icon Offshore had falsified bollard pull certificates.
"We note that the article contains untrue, inaccurate and misleading information, in particular the allegation of falsifying bollard pull certificates which we categorically deny," Icon Offshore said in a press statement yesterday.
"We take issues which impinge on our reputation and integrity very seriously and consequently, we have on June 10, 2014 submitted a letter of demand to Focus Malaysia to retract the article and refrain from publishing further allegations, failing which Icon will commence legal proceedings," it said.
In response to the said article, Icon Offshore said all its certificates on its vessels are genuine and reaffirms that there has been no falsification of any bollard pull certificates in relation to any of its vessels.
It noted that bollard pull certificates are issued upon completion of tests conducted by the owner and witnessed by an Independent Assessment Company such as Bureau Veritas (BV) following complete construction of a vessel.
"Bollard pull certificates issued do not have expiry dates," Icon pointed out.
It said Omni Gagah was issued a bollard pull certificate by BV with a maximum static bollard pull of 79 tonnes.
"When Icon Offshore Bhd acquired Omni Gagah in 2011, Icon requested for a re-issuance of certificate by BV to reflect the change of ownership. This was done by BV based on the original certificate and mathematical test without a physical test, which is a common and accepted industry practice in such circumstances," it explained.
Between September 2013 and January 2014, Omni Gagah was used as a replacement vessel for a client contract that specified a minimum continuous bollard pull of 60 tonnes.
However, after the client highlighted a potential issue of bollard pull strength, Icon offered and eventually commissioned a physical test witnessed by BV and the client at open sea which showed a bollard pull of 62 tonnes. BV then issued a new revised certificate on March 4, 2014 to reflect this.
"There could be various reasons for the variance in its static bollard pull, such as the ageing of vessels (Omni Gagah is now more than 10 years old) and the conditions under which the physical test was performed, including depth of water, vessel trim, maximum loaded draft, current or tide of the sea, and wind condition, amongst others.
"Therefore, there is no falsification issue at all. All bollard pull certificates were properly issued and certified by BV. Further notwithstanding the variance, the revised bollard pull strength of 62 tonnes still met the minimum contract requirement of 60 tonnes stipulated by the client and we have not received any further notice of issue from the client on this matter," it said.
Like Omni Gagah, Icon said Omni Perkasa had similar re-issuance of the bollard pull certificate done by BV in the same manner.
In respect of Omni Anteia and Omni Akira, Icon said contrary to the article, it did provide their bollard pull certificates to the client for sighting.
Both vessels are currently still under contract while Omni Solaris was sold by Icon in April 2014.
Icon also noted that the reported notice of default is not related to the bollard pull certification but to another vessel of the group.
"This was an operational issue and refers to a matter raised under the vessel inspection and risk management system of the client. We wish to highlight that this matter had been addressed and resolved, and the said vessel currently complies with the client's inspection guidelines, as indicated by its current 'green' status. The vessel also still remains on hire," it said.
In a separate announcement, Icon has fixed its final retail and institutional price for its initial public offering at RM1.85 following completion of its book-building process yesterday.