Seatrium rejects ‘wrongful termination’ of US$475 million contract, receives notice of arbitration
The deal is for the construction of a wind turbine installation vessel at a US offshore wind farm
[SINGAPORE] Seatrium on Wednesday (Oct 22) said that it has rejected the notice of termination of its US$475 million contract inked with a Maersk Offshore Wind affiliate in 2022.
In a bourse filing, the marine engineering company said that it rejected the notice of termination on Oct 12.
In that rejection, it said that the Maersk affiliate was “in repudiatory breach of the contract” and it “reserved all its rights against the buyer for wrongful termination”.
The contract was for the construction of a wind turbine installation vessel at the US offshore wind farm, Empire Wind 1. Seatrium had said that it was going to “explore viable solutions”, including talks with the end-customer, Empire Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Equinor and BP.
Seatrium also sent a notice to the buyer on Monday that the vessel, which is 98.9 per cent complete, will be delivered on Jan 30, 2026.
In response, it received a notice of arbitration on Tuesday regarding the contractual dispute. The notice stated that such disputes are to be referred to arbitration in London, in accordance with the current London Maritime Arbitrators Association terms.
The arbitration notice did not contain any particulars of the alleged disputes, the buyer’s claims or the reliefs sought by the buyer, said Seatrium.
It added that it is taking legal advice and will “vigorously prosecute its position and defend any claims” from the buyer.
Shares of Seatrium closed 1 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$2.11 on Wednesday.
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