Prosecutor's Office may step in dispute of two rival shipbuilding firms
Vladivostok-based Pacifico Marine Ltd. is executing a turnkey contract for one of three passenger catamarans being built for the APEC Summit-2012, and has completed the hull of the second boat of the HSC series. The company operates the yards leased from another shipbuilder - JSC Vostochnaya Verf Shipyard (Vladivostok), which, in turn, also performs the contract for the construction of two catamarans of the same series. This is stated in a press release of Pacifico Marine.
The Customer, the Primorsky Territory Administration ordered three high-speed crafts, each with a capacity of 223 passengers for the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to be held in Vladivostok, this September. The cost of each ship is about RUB 100 million. So far, two weeks before the event, the Customer has not taken delivery none of the three newbuilds, the Pacifico Marine’s statement said.
First two boats were launched this summer 10 months behind the schedule. Outfitting of the catamarans is not completed as well. The third catamaran, which has been completed by Pacifico Marine for 7 months, can not be launched and delivered to the customer due to the illegal actions of the JSC Vostochnaya Shipyard officials, who ordered to block transportation of the completed boat to the water's edge, and also do not allow engineers of Pacifico Marine to enter the shipyard territory.
All illegal actions of JSC Vostochnaya Shipyard, including a case of assault and battery of the Pacific Marine’s engineer, were registered and filed with the regional police and the local administration.
Pacifico Marine believes that Vostochnaya Verf Shipyard, who has breached its own contracts for two APEC Summit cats, now ‘throws sand in the wheels,’ deliberately hindering execution of the contract for the third boat, which has been successfully implemented by Pacific Marine and still has a chance to be delivered to the customer on time. The Pacifico Marine also alleged there might a fraud on the part of the Vostochnaya Verf management and a hostile takeover bid of Pacifico Marine’s property.
On August 20, 2012 Pacific Marine’s CEO Sergei Voloshenko has filed an appeal to Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika to conduct a probe into the actions of Vostochnaya Verf Shipyard and bring to account those responsible.