A spokesman claims the company served as nothing more than a “technical advisor” to Nordmoon and Nordlight Schiffahrts GmbH & Co KG, which had lined up contracts to construct two platform-supply vessels at a shipyard controlled by Vard Holdings.
The duo filed for insolvency in Germany on 12 March 2015 and the shipbuilder terminated the orders a day later.
Today, ER said Nordmoon and Nordlight decided to fold after failing to reach an agreement “with regard to the further course of the projects”.
“ER Group is unaffected and its financial status remains strong,” the spokesman added in a statement emailed to TradeWinds on Monday morning.
As we reported, Vard pledged not to refund a prepayment that amounted to roughly 10% of the price tag tied to one of the two platform-supply vessels, which were inked last year.
On Friday the Singapore-based shipbuilder also assured investors that it should be able to sell the vessels “at a price that will cover the expected construction costs less the prepayment received”.
Today, observers admit they were surprised by this claim since the dramatic drop in the price of crude has impacted demand for many types of offshore tonnage.
