Dutch contractor Fugro must pay out $26.7m after losing an arbitration case over the early cancellation of an offshore support vessel (OSV) charter.
Calling the outcome "unfavourable", Fugro said its Singapore arm has been involved in proceedings with Singapore owner Tasik Toba Subsea. The case centres on its move to hand back the 4,500-dwt diving support vessel Southern Star (built 2017) to Tasik in March 2019.
The tribunal has now determined that the charterparty should not have been terminated.
"Fugro still has a number of counterclaims against Tasik which have not yet been deliberated or decided by the arbitration tribunal and which will be addressed at a later point this year," Fugro added.
Fugro has been contacted for further information.
The vessel had been almost continuously employed by Fugro on 11 projects in DP3 mode, in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia.
Condition queried
Last year, TradeWinds reported that Fugro had come in for harsh criticism over the condition of the ship, which is worth $54.4m according to VesselsValue.
Tasik described as “surprising” the return of the unit just 22 months into a six-year deal.
“We were shocked and saddened at the state of our almost new vessel when it was handed back by Fugro,” said Tasik Subsea chief executive John Giddens at the time.
“The efforts by our staff, new charterer and trusted contractors to return it to peak condition in such a short time have been outstanding.”
The ship was later chartered by fellow Singapore company Shelf Subsea Solutions.
Southern Star was built by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in Fuzhou, China.
