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Aker Yards stops work on NCL vessel
Andrew Spurrier, Paris - Wednesday 8 October 2008
Aker's Saint Nazaire yard.
AKER Yards France has ordered work to be stopped on the second of the two Freestyle 3 cruise ships under construction for NCL at its Saint Nazaire yard.
The shipbuilder confirmed today that it was suspending work on the vessel, indicating that it had also sent letters to its 600 suppliers and sub-contractors advising them to cease working on the ship for a period of at least six weeks so as to avoid “unnecessary expense”.
The yard’s initiative comes a little over two weeks after it acknowledged that it was in dispute with NCL over the first of the two F3 vessels, on which construction work is still proceeding.
The builder admitted in its letter to sub-contractors that NCL had indicated that it wanted to cease construction of the first vessel, codenamed C33, but said that it was still talking to the company with a view to finding a “reasonable solution” to the dispute between them.
It said that it had begun legal action in Britain but added that it was looking at the same time at the possibility of using all or part of the already 25%-completed C33 for construction of the second vessel, codenamed D33, which is not involved in the dispute with NCL.
Aker Yards France spokesman Eric Breux said that the company had not ruled out the possibility that both F3 vessels could still go to NCL.
He added, however, that, in the event they did not, the yard was looking at the possibility of making use of work carried out on the C33 to fulfil the order for the D33, leaving it maximum latitude to adapt the D33 project for another operator.
Construction of the second vessel has barely begun, although materials and equipment have been ordered.
NCL has declined to comment on the dispute over the C33, indicating only that it does not comment on “commercial or legal disputes”.
The company is understood to have justified its wish to drop the order on “technical” grounds and, notably, an alleged failure on Aker Yards’ part to meet its contractual obligations.
French reports indicate, however, that the cost of the F3 vessel has spiralled as a result of numerous post-order modifications by NCL and that the cruise company’s new 50% shareholder Apollo Global Management has decided to put a stop to a project which it considers has become too costly.
The two 150,000 gt, 2,100-cabin F3 vessels, which were intended to propel NCL into the mega-cruise ship alongside Carnival and RCCL, were ordered for a total €1.5bn in October 2006. Both vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2010, the first one early in the year.
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