Singapore-based offshore vessel manufacturer Seatrium and Maersk Offshore Wind Power and its affiliate PHOENIX II A/S have officially entered into a mutual lawsuit, with the dispute involving a wind turbine installation vessel that was cancelled from its order.
On November 29, Seatrium announced on its official website that, in accordance with the current terms of the London Arbitration Association, its subsidiary Seatrium Energy International (SEI) initiated arbitration proceedings against Maersk affiliate PHOENIX II A/S (hereinafter referred to as the “Buyer”) on November 28.
The Notice of Termination was issued under the contract (the “Contract”) for the construction of a Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (“WTIV” or the “Vessel”) for Maersk Offshore Wind (“Maersk”) through the Buyer, intended for deployment at the U.S. offshore wind farm project, Empire Wind 1.
On 12 October 2025, SEI responded to the Buyer rejecting the Notice of Termination and reserving all rights and remedies against the Buyer. SEI also pointed out in its response that the Buyer is in repudiatory breach of the Contract and SEI reserved all its rights against the Buyer for wrongful termination. Further, on 20 October 2025, SEI gave notice to the Buyer in accordance with the Contract that the Vessel would be delivered by 30 January 2026. In parallel, SEI continued with its efforts to explore all viable solutions, including with the end-customer, Empire Offshore Wind LLC, to deliver the Vessel directly.
On 21 October 2025 (just one day after SEI gave notice to the Buyer that the Vessel would be delivered by 30 January 2026), SEI received the Buyer’s Notice of Arbitration from the Buyer. The Buyer’s Notice of Arbitration asserted that disputes have arisen between the parties to the Contract, and that such disputes are to be referred to arbitration in London to be conducted in accordance with the current London Maritime Arbitrators Association (“LMAA”) terms. The Buyer’s Notice of Arbitration did not contain any particulars of the alleged disputes or the Buyer’s claims or the reliefs (monetary or otherwise) being sought by the Buyer.
As stated in the Company’s announcement dated 22 October 2025 on the receipt of the Buyer’s Notice of Arbitration, SEI is taking legal advice and will vigorously prosecute its position and defend any claims that may be brought by the Buyer. By the Buyer’s conduct, SEI was of the view that the Buyer has clearly evinced an intention to abandon the Contract and not perform any of its contractual obligations.
The SEI Notice of Arbitration specifies that SEI is seeking, amongst other things, the following reliefs:
- A declaration that the Buyer has wrongfully terminated the Contract on 9 October 2025;
- A declaration that the Contract is valid and subsisting;
- An order for specific performance of Buyer’s obligations under the Contract, including to take delivery of the Vessel on 30 January 2026 and to pay the delivery instalment due under the Contract; and
- Further and/or in the alternative, damages to be assessed.
Under the Contract, 80% of the Contract Price is to be paid by the Buyer to SEI on the delivery of the Vessel. This legacy contract pre-dating the merger of entities resulting in the formation of Seatrium is the only remaining contract in the Group’s order book that is not structured with progressive milestone payments. The financial impact arising from the SEI Notice of Arbitration in view of this developing situation is highly dependent on the final outcome, and as such, the Company will only be able to ascertain the same when it has more visibility on the final outcome. The Company will provide an update on this in accordance with the applicable listing rules at the relevant time to provide further information to its shareholders.
It is understood that on March 23, 2022, Sembcorp Marine Rigs & Floaters, the predecessor of SEI, signed the construction contract for the wind turbine installation vessel involved in this cancellation with the buyer. The vessel was valued at approximately US$475 million and was planned to be deployed in U.S. offshore wind projects upon completion.
The vessel commenced construction in the fourth quarter of 2022 and was launched in the second quarter of 2025. Under the original contract, delivery was scheduled for early 2025. However, based on information disclosed in the announcement, it remains uncertain whether this high-value offshore vessel will ultimately be delivered.