Norway’s Siem Offshore has been fined $8m for handing over a newbuilding late to oil major Petrobras.
The Kristian Siem-backed company said in a filing to the Oslo Stock Exchange that it had been notified of a “final unfavourable decision” by a Brazilian court relating to legal action it took against the charterer.
The ETP Engenharia shipyard in Brazil handed over the 56-loa oilfield pollution control vessel Siem Marataizes in March 2016, according to shipbroker Clarksons.
But Petrobras imposed a late delivery charge on owner Siem Offshore do Brasil, prompting the court action.
The amount has been accounted for already by Siem Offshore, so will not have any effect on the profit and loss figures for 2022.
“The unfavourable decision of the court amounts to a cash payment equivalent to around $8m,” Siem said.
No information was given about how late the Siem Marataizes was or why.
Siem Offshore has been contacted for further comment.
The ship is still operated by a subsidiary, Siem Consub, in Rio de Janeiro.
This company has 17 ships in Brazil, including a sister ship to the Siem Marataizes that was delivered from the same yard a year earlier.
The fleet includes platform supply vessels and crew boats.
In the second quarter, revenue from the 28 Siem Offshore ships grew to $75.3m, up from $66.4m in 2021.
This helped net earnings along to $19.5m, way down on the $103m last year, when the company was boosted by a $92m debt-to-equity conversion being recognised as financial income during its restructuring.
Operating profit came in at $15.5m, from $11.3m the year before.
