Dutch contractor wins $42mn case over Arctic LNG-2 exit
Dutch dredging and heavlift company Boskalis announced on June 9 it had won a case worth €39.5mn ($42mn) over its withdrawal from the Arctic LNG-2 project in Russia because of sanctions.
Boskalis suspended its activities at the Novatek-operated project on March 4, stating it was doing so in light of Europe's sanctions regime imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. However Boskalis' client Saren, a joint venture between Italy's Saipem and Turkey's Renaissance Heavy Industries claimed its departure was a breach of contract, and sued the Dutch firm for €39.5mn.
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"Today the judge in summary proceedings ruled in favour of Boskalis on all major points and no payments may be made to either Saren or the end client in Russia," Boskalis said in a statement.
A separate lawsuit was in Russia over the two vessels that Boskalis left in the port of Murmansk: the Nordic Giant dredger and the rock-dumping pontoon barge. A Novatek unit filed a suit in Murmansk seeking to seize the ships, and the court agreed and transferred them to St Petersburg-based Onego Shipping, with permission to use them.
Novatek has already conceded that Arctic LNG-2 may not meet its 2023 target launch date, as a result of sanctions and general volatility.