Dubai's Marine Assets Corporation (MAC) has missed an instalment on a new mining ship in China.
Canada-listed Nautilus Minerals, which will charter the vessel for $199,910 per day over five years, revealed the default in a stock exchange release.
It said Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding had told it of the missed third payment of $18m plus interest for the ship, which is due to be delivered at the end of this year.
"Nautilus is in discussions with the shipyard, MAC and third parties with respect to the default and potential remedies, and will issue further updates as matters develop," it added.
The yard can sell the MAC Goliath if the money is not paid within 21 days.
Nautilus has the option to either remedy the default on behalf of MAC and/or replace MAC as a party to the contract within 14 days.
MAC has been contacted for comment.
Nautilus said the ship is progressing well, with construction more than 70% complete.
It wants the vessel for the Solawara 1 gold and copper mining project at a depth of 1,600 metres off the north-eastern coast of Papua New Guinea in the Bismarck Sea.
The 227-metre-long, 40-metre-wide unit is the equivalent of the oil industry’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
It digs out minerals from the seabed, extracts seawater from the slurry, separates the ore and stores it before loading it onto handysize bulkers.
In February, TradeWinds reported that MAC had been subjected to a cyber attack.
Money stolen was reportedly intended for the MAC Goliath project.
In December Nautilus Minerals was said to have pre-paid $10m of the $18m charterer’s guarantee to MAC.
Nautilus said it paid the deposit into a bank account which it believed to be MAC’s, but was subsequently advised that it was not its account.
