Irish Ferries is in talks with Chinese shipyards to build a large ropax to replace a newbuilding facing delays at troubled Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG), Chinese brokers say.
Sources in China said the Dublin-based operator has approached both CSC Jinling Shipyard and Avic Weihai Shipyard.
Irish Ferries has been sitting on an order for a 67,300-gt ropax to be delivered in 2020, according to the IHS Maritime database after taking delivery of the 1,885-passenger WB Yeats (built 2018) in December last year.
The remaining ship on order is worth a reported €165.2m ($183.3m) to the builder.
Rumoured cancellations
But FSG's orderbook has been the subject of reports over potential cancellations as the German company suffered setbacks in delivering vessels.
FSG chief executive Alex Gregg-Smith did not respond to requests for comment on the state of the Flensburg-based yard's orderbook.
In July, he told TradeWinds that German media reports of owner cancellations were inaccurate and, in particular, claimed a rumour that Irish Ferries had cancelled the second ship was "absolute nonsense".
For CSC Jinling and former rival Avic Weihai, an order by any of FSG's customers would come at an awkward time. As China's leading builders of specialised ropax tonnage, both yards are moving parts in a merger of state-owned enterprises.
Both have long ropax orderbooks and are in the process of becoming sister companies through an ongoing acquisition by state-owned China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMIH), which operates as China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI). TradeWinds reported last year that Avic was in talks to sell off its shipbuilding interests to fellow state-owned enterprise CMIH, including Avic Weihai and small tanker specialist Avic Dingheng. Hong Kong-listed Avic International subsequently confirmed the story.
Avic Weihai is in the process of building a series of nine firm ropaxes for Sweden's Stena Line, while CSC Jinling has an extensive ropax and ro-ro orderbook for European owners, including record-breaking 64,000-gt ships for Italy's Grimaldi.
Single team
Marketing and technical staff of Avic Weihai and CSC Jinling have recently been spotted visiting clients as a single team, and industry sources said key staff remain in place at takeover candidate Avic Weihai, promising business as usual. But staff in both groups acknowledged that no one yet knows exactly how business will be distributed among the group yards.
Sources believe the Avic Weihai yard in coastal Shandong province will become Jinling Weihai as part of the CMHI sub-group that includes CSC Jinling's two upriver yards Jinling Nanjing and Jinling Jiangsu.
In addition to the Irish Ferries vessel, FSG's orderbook is now understood to include an LNG-fuelled Brittany Ferries ropax near completion, two ropaxes for Australia's TT Line and two ro-ros for yard shareholder Siem Industries. One of the Siem ro-ros — the 32,700-gt Leevsten (built 2019) — is now listed by VesselsValue as being newly in service.
Closest to delivery is the Brittany Ferries ship, the 1,690-passenger Honfleur, which is being outfitted. Its delivery had been rescheduled from May to December in connection with the WB Yeats delays.
The TT Line order, which has been the subject of political debate in Australia, is for two 48,000-gt fast ropaxes costing €219m each and scheduled for delivery in 2021.
Passenger claims
The German yard's problems accelerated after the delayed delivery of the WB Yeats pushed back other scheduled work, while Irish Ferries suffered substantial passenger claims when the ship entered service about 200 days late.
Norway's Siem took over FSG in 2014 relying on local and government financial support but sold 76% of shares to German-based investor Lars Windhorst in January 2019.
In his annual report for 2018 in June, chairman Kristian Siem told Siem shareholders that FSG had an orderbook worth NOK 8.4bn (then $959m) but expressed pessimism about the yard's future and characterised the remaining share as a non-core holding.
