Russian court takes control of four tugboats owned by Maersk company Svitzer

Russian court takes control of four tugboats owned by Maersk company Svitzer
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The Russian government has taken control of Maersk’s Svitzer tug company’s four tugs which were operating under contract to the Sakhalin II oil and gas project in eastern Russia. The contract, which came into effect in November 2020 and was extended early this year, is set to run for 10 years. Svitzer has been trying to suspend services since it declared plans to exit Russia in 2019 following the invasion of Ukraine. The situation regarding the tugboats is said to be “untenable”, according to a statement from Maersk.

Reports indicate that Svitzer plans to move the tugs out of Russia and re-register them under the Russian flag. Svitzer attempted to enforce force majeure to suspend the service contract on April 17 in Sakhalin, but the Russian operator of the oil and gas project sued Svitzer objecting to the loss of the four tugboats, which could jeopardize production activities at the facilities. A Russian arbitration court ordered on April 24 for the seizure of the tugs and handed control over to a third-party company. Svitzer reportedly has the right to appeal by May 18 to regain control of the tugs.

In 2020, Maersk had to write down over $700m of its Russian assets and sold off its stake in a terminal operator, a cold storage facility in Saint Petersburg, and an inland terminal in Novorossiysk. The tugs were among Maersk’s last assets in Russia. The four heavy-duty ice-class tugs, with a lifting capacity of 590 tons and an overall length of 113 feet each, were built in 2007 by Robert Allan and chartered by Svitzer Sakhalin on behalf of the Sakhalin II project to provide maritime services.

Tags: Svitzer,Sakhalin,Russia,seized,smugglers


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