Australian shipowner Wellard has won cash at arbitration in London as a result of a cancelled livestock carrier order in Croatia.
The tribunal has awarded the Sydney-listed company payments plus interest totalling $12m from the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR).
The money must be handed over within two weeks.
The case arose from an order in 2015 at Uljanik Shipyard, which later went bust.
HBOR had issued refund guarantees for the contract involving the 17,400-dwt Ocean Kelpie, which was terminated by Uljanik in 2018.
The bank had contested the payments.
Wellard's executive chairman John Klepec said: "Wellard is pleased to have been able to recover these monies after two long and complex arbitrations conducted over several years.
"This is a fair and appropriate outcome in the circumstances, demonstrating the importance of effective risk mitigation that refund guarantees provide in the shipbuilding industry," he added.
The company is now considering how to use the funds.
Growth opportunities examined
The owner said last year that it was turning its attention to growth and renewal opportunities for the fleet.
The company was looking carefully at how newbuildings could be funded without stressing the balance sheet.
Wellard had won an arbitration against the shipbuilder in 2020, but the yard's insolvency meant the owner was unable to recover the award.
HBOR must now refund two advance payments of $8m and €1.6m ($1.8m).
Uljanik claimed at the time that Wellard had asked for the work to be suspended.
The yard had been hit by strikes over late wages and the freezing of its bank account as it tries to push through a restructuring plan acceptable to the European Union.
