Talks between Harland & Wolff and its US customer, Global Marine, are continuing in London as the two firms attempt to reach a financial settlement over a disputed £400 million sterling (€623.34 million) contract for two drilling ships which threatens to close the Belfast shipyard.
Harland & Wolff owner Mr Fred Olsen, of the Scandinavian-based Fred Olsen Energy, has joined with the yard's chief executive Mr Brynjulv Mugass and its financial director Mr Robert Cooper for negotiations with the chairman of Global Marine, Mr Richard Rose. Union officials may also take part in the talks, which began yesterday afternoon.
In a statement yesterday, Harland & Wolff confirmed that it had lodged a £133.2 million sterling claim for compensation with the US firm for additional work on the ships "over and above" the original contract, work it claims Global Marine has denied it requested.
The dispute is expected to go to arbitration, which could take up to two years to resolve.
The yard said it submitted the compensation claim on October 29th but has yet to receive a formal response from the Texan-based offshore drilling firm. The US firm contracts its crewed drilling rigs and ships at a daily rate and it is understood the daily lease rate for the two ships currently under construction will stand in the region of $200,000 (€191,479).
The Belfast yard also faces an order book crisis with no outstanding orders after its contract with Global Marine expires this spring.
Workers have immediate fears for their jobs because of the ongoing dispute between the two firms. However, the yard has assured workers that their salaries are secure for the next two weeks.
According to a Harland & Wolff spokesman, Global Marine has only paid £160 million sterling to date towards the vessels, in addition to "small extras" totalling around £2 million.
"For its part, Harland & Wolff has paid £73 million in working capital and £24 million by way of cash collateral in order to progress construction of the vessels - a total of £97 million funding which has been provided by the company through previous cash resources and a £50 million loan," he added.
The yard has blamed Global Marine for pursuing "a strategy of driving Harland & Wolff into crisis" and seeking to complete construction through other methods. There was no comment from Global Marine.
In yesterday's statement, the yard suggested it could complete the vessels in advance of the contractual delivery date.
Although its order book is empty, the Belfast yard is currently bidding for a number of new orders including a large floating production vessel for oil exploration and a number of contracts from the British Ministry of Defence.
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