Automarine Transport and Siem Shipping Inc, both part of Siem Group, have cancelled contracts with Croatian cash-strapped shipbuilder Uljanik for the construction of four Pure Car Truck Carriers (PCTCs).
What happened?
In a regulatory filing, Uljanik said that the shipbuilding contracts were terminated due to its inability to deliver the vessels in line with the conditions stipulated in the contracts.
Automarine Transport and Siem Shipping rescinded the contracts for two 7,000 ceu PCTCs, respectively, on September 1.
Cancellation after payout
The troubled yard is being hit with the cancellations days after it managed to secure outstanding salaries for the yard’s workers, who were on strike for over a week over late wages.
Uljanik group’s account was unblocked after the Croatian Government provided a state guarantee to Croatian Postal Bank (HPB) for changing insurance instruments for earlier HPB’s loans to Uljanik from 2015 and 2016, to enable the payment of late wages.
Strike demanding resignation
Apart from late payment of wages, the workers were also calling for the company’s management to resign.
On August 28, President of Uljanik, Gianni Rossanda, presented his resignation to the Supervisory Board of Uljanik d.d. The resignations were offered by 14 management directors of the Uljanik Group as well.
What next
The company needs to sort out the remaining issues with the suppliers in order to resume production activities by the shipbuilder.
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Source: World Maritime News
