Norwegian shipping company Norled has announced that it has canceled its order for two high-speed ferries ordered from the Norwegian shipyard Brodrene Aa.
Norled said the reasons for the cancellation were “delays in vessel delivery and issues with vessel performance”. Norled “did not see any efforts by the shipyard to resolve the speed issues”.
This is the second time Norled has canceled an order. Earlier, Norled terminated the contract for an earlier ordered ferry. With this, all three new vessels ordered by the ferry operator at the Brodrene Aa shipyard have been canceled. The new vessels were due to be delivered in 2024.
Brodrene Aa is understood to be looking for a new buyer for the second and third vessels, which are yet to be completed. Gustav Johan Nydal, the company’s chairman, said the cancelation of the contracts for the two ferries was “expected”. The first of the three withdrawn vessels has already been sold.
The order withdrawal is the latest setback for Brodrene Aa, which had earlier announced plans to lay off staff due to delays in the delivery of new vessel.
After Norled canceled the order for the first ferry, Brodrene Aa reached an emergency financing agreement with its main creditor, Sparebank 1 bank, and two Norwegian companies, Fjord 1 and Rødne, to ensure that the company’s operations will continue until May 9, when a solution must be found to avoid layoffs. This deadline has now been relaxed to May 16th.
Brodrene Aa is still searching for a solution to maintain its operations, and the withdrawal of the two newbuildings has certainly added insult to injury for the struggling shipyard.
It is worth noting that the shipyard had planned to equip the series of vessels with replaceable battery systems, although this was not required by the original shipbuilding contract. However, the shipowner has clarified that the contract was canceled due to delays in the delivery of the vessels and not for battery reasons.
Norled further stated, “They have previously delivered several vessels to us. It is a pity that this time the vessels did not achieve the necessary speed and were severely delayed.”