Qingdao Maritime Court has ordered a freeze on two jackup rigs under construction at CSIC-affiliated Qingdao Haixi Heavy-duty Machinery, at the request of Hong Kong-based East Sunrise Group over a contract dispute.
East Sunrise Group signed with CSIC’s Wuhan Marine Machinery (WMM) for the construction of ten jack-up platforms in July 2014 at a total value of around RMB10bn ($1.5bn). Construction of the rigs commenced at WMM’s affiliate yard Qingdao Haixi Heavy-duty Machinery.
Later East Sunrise Group resold three of the rigs to a Middle Eastern company once they became effective under the contract.
Haixi Heavy-duty Machinery delivered the first rig to East Sunrise Group earlier this year, however East Sunrise claimed that the rig didn’t meet several technical standards which cost the company $3m in compensation to the Middle East client.
East Sunrise has refused to make further payments for the second and third rig, and the yard has now terminated the contracts for the two rigs.
A source in the domestic shipbuilding industry told Splash that the two companies have had several disputes during the construction period. A senior official at WMM responsible for the East Sunrise rig deal later was secretly poached by East Sunrise, intensifying the conflict between the two companies.
