Russian court seizes Boskalis vessels helping to build platforms for Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 plant

MOSCOW. May 12 (Interfax) - A Murmansk Region court, in a lawsuit filed by Novatek subsidiary Arctic LNG 2, has seized vessels belonging to Boskalis LLC, a Russian subsidiary of Dutch dredging and heavy lift company Boskalis, that were working on the project to build a liquefied natural gas plant.

Arctic LNG 2 entered into a contract with Saren B.V., a joint venture between Turkey's Renaissance Heavy Industries and Italy's Saipem, for the design and construction of three gravity-based structures on which the LNG trains will be built, and Boskalis provided the vessels to lay the foundation for the base plate of the process train, the court said in its decision.

However, beginning on March 4, 2022 Boskalis essentially suspended work without explaining the reasons or notifying Saren, left the vessels at the Murmansk port and sent a notice that it was unilaterally terminating the contract, the court said.

As a result, Saren was forced to look for an alternative subcontractor. Using alternative sources will lead to a significant increase in work and the time it takes to complete it. Losses amount to about 7.1 billion rubles.

The court granted Arctic LNG 2's motion for an injunction and seized the dredger Nordic Giant and pontoon vessel Arctic Scradeway, and barred the capital of the Big Port of St. Petersburg to take any registration actions in the seaport registries regarding these vessels. The seized vessels will be transferred to the custody of Onego Shipping Ltd with permission to use them. Onego Shipping is a St. Petersburg company owned by Alexander Kulikov.