Creditors of restructuring German shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) have offered to complete a $223m LNG-fuelled ropax cancelled last week by Brittany Ferries.
FSG filed for self-administration at the Flensburg District Court in April and has been placed in debtor-in-possession management under the oversight of an insolvency monitor.
The 42,400-gt Honfleur, which had been due for delivery this month, was the last contract it retained.
FSG said "difficult talks and negotiations" are currently underway in a fight to save the yard, with the ship's cancellation presenting a particular challenge.
Now the board of creditors has decided to continue the work and has also submitted a new offer to the vessel's lender to complete its construction.
Flensburg Mayor Simone Lange, who also represents the German city on the board of creditors, said she is confident about the future sustainability of the company.
"We believe in the skills and capabilities of FSG," she added.
"Over the course of its almost 150-year history, the company has proven that it can build outstanding ships."
Lange said she wants it to continue doing so in the future.
"The prerequisites for this are certainly there if everyone pulls together now," she said.
Vessel a year away?
FSG has said the ship will not be ready for another 11 or 12 months, however.
The shipbuilder had announced last week that it was in talks with "various parties" about completing the ferry, as well as its financing.
The newbuilding was ordered in 2017 and originally scheduled to enter service last summer, but has been delayed.
FSG managing director Martin Hammer and general representative Stefan Denkhaus said on Wednesday the yard was ready to work "full speed" on the vessel.
"The fact that the board of creditors are fighting so hard for this order proves the lasting confidence that the members of the board have in the abilities of the FSG and its workforce," they added.
Brittany Ferries has sidestepped TradeWinds' questions about how or if it plans to replace its first LNG-fuelled ferry.
FSG is conduction negotiations over a sale of the business with German shipbuilder Pella Sietas, owned by Russia's Pella Shipyard.
