Shenzhen-listed shipbuilder Jiangsu Sainty Marine Corp informed that it has filed for arbitration at London Maritime Arbitration Association over cancellation of a shipbuilding contract.

The order relates to construction of three chemical tankers that have been cancelled by an undisclosed owner on August 7 who also sought to return the pre-payment and relevant interest from China Exim Bank.

According to Sainty Marine, the owner has no right to cancel the shipbuilding contract and ask for refund.

The owner behind the cancellation is believed to be Celsius Shipping which had 11 orders for 24,600dwt chemical tankers at the yard, priced at around USD 40 million each.

Namely, the company had ordered seven chemical tankers in May 2014 and additional four in March 2015, which were supposed to be jointly built by Sainty Marine and Nantong Mingde Heavy Industries.

However, Celsius Shipping is reported to had cancelled the orders in June 2015.

(From: World Maritime News)