Sale of the Century ? extended

As the year ends, Kvaerner has failed to meet its deadline for disposing of its 13 yards and has only sold three (Leirvik, Kleven and Govan). A spokesman for the company says that negotiations are underway with interested parties for all the remaining yards and that the two Fjellstrans yards (in Norway and Singapore) are likely to be sold separately.

Talks are continuing with a Finnish group and Gdynia about the disposal of Masa-Yards, which represent half of Kvaerner?s shipbuilding interests, but no deadline has been set. Several parties are interested in purchasing Warnow but capacity limitation issues are hampering the sale, says the company.

There are three parties interested in buying the Philadelphia yard and announcements are expected early next year. Yard construction is almost complete and shipbuilding will start in mid 2000 with the first three container ships being built to a Warnow design at Kvaerner?s expense and then sold on.

The company admits that uncertainty over ownership has an impact on their yards? ability to win work and believes this is why, despite competitive pricing, Philadelphia lost a contract to build two cargo vessels for Totem Ocean Trailer.