French shipping company Brittany Ferries and compatriot semi-public company Somanor SAS have confirmed the termination of the construction contract for an LNG-powered ferry with Germany’s Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard.
The vessel, Honfleur, has been under construction in Flensburg, Germany, since 2017.
The 42,400 gross ton Honfleur was originally scheduled to enter service in June 2019, but the delivery of the vessel was postponed several times due to persistent financial problems encountered by the yard’s management.
FSG has been experiencing financial troubles for some time and was offered a lifeline in the form of a new owner, Tennor Holding B.V., which took full ownership of the company last September.
“The change of main shareholder in September 2019, with the arrival of Lars Windhorst and the Tennor group, did not allow the yard to return to growth and competitiveness,” Brittany Ferries and Somanor said in a statement.
In late April 2020, the financially-troubled shipyard filed for the opening of insolvency proceedings at the local court in Flensburg. The court has approved the application and ordered a provisional self-administration.
“With the surprise announcement that the yard was placed under the protection of the Commercial Court in May 2020, and unsuccessful discussions with the current management of FSG and its main creditors, Somanor and Brittany Ferries, the limited partners of the Honfleur, acknowledged that they had lost confidence in the yard’s ability to complete the vessel within a reasonable period of time,” the duo stated.
No details on the potential alternative shipyard for Honfleur have been revealed.
Last week, Dublin-based maritime transportation group Irish Continental Group (ICG) also terminated a contract with FSG for the construction of a new vessel for its subsidiary Irish Ferries. The ship, intended for the Dublin-Holyhead route, was originally planned to be handed over to its owner in 2020.
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