Cancellations sought at troubled shipyard

Tom Todd writes: P+S spokesman Cord Schellenberg Thursday (1 November) confirmed German reports that Mr Brinkmann was seeking cancellation of orders for four of five ice-breaking feeder and supply ships for Royal Arctic Line (RAL) and also an order for an offshore pipe-laying vessel for a subsidiary of Bremen shipowner Harren.

“The four ships would be cancelled because work has not yet started on them”, he said. “By doing this, Mr Brinkmann is bowing to the express requests of the EU”, he added. Brussels has asked that a development programme be created to get P+S out of its current cash-flow difficulties.

Mr Brinkmann is also hoping the cancellations will lead to EU approval of badly-needed local cash credits so that other ships on which construction has already started might be completed and delivered and yard debts thus reduced.

They include one ship for RAL and two long-overdue ferries for Scandlines on which stability and other technical problems need to be solved. They also include two Danish ferries which owners DFDS have already cancelled, but which Mr Brinkmann believes might be re-negotiated and completed.

Completion of those ships, on which deliveries are now overdue, would bring in much-needed cash to the group, which faces creditor demands put at more than €0.5 billion.

Mr Schellenberg told

The Motorship

the receiver now hoped to sell off P+S member yard Peene Werft in Wolgast by the end of this year and Volkswerft in Stralsund in 2013. Peene is the more viable yard because of its stable order situation and enough naval repair work to keep it busy until April 2013. The situation at main yard Volkswerft however is being described as “much more difficult”, specifically because of the DFDS and Scandlines problems.