Keppel cancels new order

Keppel Corp has been forced to cancel a newbuilding order worth SGD181m ($122m) after the owners failed to finance the project. The Singapore yard said it had received a notice from Romanian company GSP Titan to terminate the shipbuilding contract.

Keppel said the cancellation was due to the owner’s difficulties in securing project financing as a result of the current tight credit situation.

Contracted to Keppel Singmarine in late July 2008, the newbuilding project is at its early stages of execution, Keppel said. “Keppel Singmarine has received milestone payment for the project which covers costs incurred on the project as well as the expected loss of profit,” it added. GSP, which is part of the privately-owned Upetrom Group, had planned to deploy the vessel in the Black Sea and Mediterranean region.