23 September 2008

Ship yard in cost dispute with NCL over new ship

The French ship yard building the biggest ship ever for NCL has admitted being in dispute with the cruise line.

The issue is over the costs of NCLÃ¢â¬â¢s first of two 4,200-passenger F3-type vessels due for delivery in early 2010.

A statement from Aker Yards France said it was Ã¢â¬Åâœin dispute with the cruise vessel operator Norwegian Cruise Line over the costs of the construction of a cruise vesselÃ¢â¬~.

It added that the dispute relates to the ongoing construction of the first of two ships ordered by NCL in 2006 with a total value of 1.47 billion euros ($2.15 billion).

The problem does not affect the second of the new ships and work is continuing on construction of the first F3 vessel Ã¢â¬Åâœwhile the process to find a solution is ongoingÃ¢â¬~.

The 150,000-tonne ship is currently a quarter built.

Aker Yards France president Jacques Hardelay said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœIn projects with this magnitude of complexity, we have in this industry several examples that discussions arise during the project execution.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe regret that we have a situation with a dispute. While we are in the middle of this process it would not be correct to speculate on the outcome, or on possible alternatives.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœOur focus is to find a solution, including continuing the planned activities at our yard in Saint Nazaire.Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies