Case of cancelled wind turbine installation vessel to go to court

In early October, Seatrium Ltd, parent company of the yard building the wind turbine installation vessel, confirmed the AP Møller Holding-owned company had cancelled the vessel, even though it was 98.9% complete.

The vessel was ordered by Maersk Offshore Wind from Sembcorp Marine business unit Sembcorp Marine Rigs & Floaters Pte Ltd, now known as Seatrium Energy (International) Pte Ltd (SEI), in March 2022. The contract was placed by Maersk Offshore Wind, through an affiliate, to provide a vessel for deployment on the Empire Wind 1 offshore windfarm, which the Trump administration recently tried to halt. Once Empire Wind was complete, it was also expected to play a role installing other offshore windfarms in US waters. Seatrium said the contract has a total value of approximately US$475M. It received a notice of termination under the contract on 9 October 2025.

On 12 October 2025, SEI responded to the buyer, rejecting the notice of termination and reserving all rights and remedies against the company. SEI also claimed that the buyer “is in repudiatory breach of the contract” and reserved all its rights against the buyer for wrongful termination. 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.

On 22 October 2025, SEI also received a notice of arbitration regarding the case, that is, one day after SEI gave notice to the buyer about when it would be delivered.

SEI said the notice of arbitration asserts that disputes had 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 London Maritime Arbitrators Association terms. SEI said the notice of arbitration does not contain any particulars of the alleged disputes or the buyer’s claims or the reliefs (monetary or otherwise) being sought by the buyer. The company is taking legal advice and will vigorously prosecute its position and defend any claims that may be brought by the buyer.

“The financial impact arising from this developing situation is highly dependent on the final outcome,” said SEI. “The group is committed to offer market guidance when it has reliable visibility on the final outcome, in order to provide accurate financial guidance that investors and shareholders can rely on.”

In response to questions from OWJ at the time that the notice of termination was issued, Maersk Offshore Wind said it confirmed that it had terminated its newbuilding contract with SEI because of what it described as “delays and related construction issues.”