Harland & Wolff to sue US oil giant for €214m

Harland & Wolff has begun discussions with its legal team about the next stage of a £130 million sterling (€214 million) claim against the US oil giant Global Marine.

The struggling Belfast shipyard has decided to pursue the claim against the Texan group after it won an arbitration claim for £21 million against Global Marine last week.

Harland & Wolff lodged the £130 million claim more than two years ago. The claim centres on allegations made by Harland & Wolff that the US group ran up additional costs by requesting changes and extra work on two drill ships it had commissioned the shipyard to build.

The east Belfast shipyard also maintained that Global Marine was responsible for potential increases in the contract and any slippage in delivery times.

In response to these allegations, Global Marine claimed the drill ships were not completed on time or to its specification.

Harland & Wolff subsequently demanded that a final payment of £21 million should be paid on the contract and declined to release the drill ships until payment was received.

Although the two drill ships were delivered to Global Marine last year and are currently in service, the US company had refused to pay the money demanded by Harland & Wolff.

Last week the High Court in London ruled that Global Marine should pay the £21 million. The US group failed to persuade the House of Lords to grant it permission to appeal the ruling.

Now, the shipyard plans to progress its claim for £130 million.

The US group is understood to be disappointed by the High Court decision and by its subsequent failure to persuade the House of Lords to allow it to appeal the decision.

Winning the award has put Harland & Wolff in a stronger financial position to pursue its outstanding claim against Global Marine.

A shipyard spokesman said the company was reviewing its options and no firm decision has yet been made on its future strategy.

One option for the company would be to take the matter to arbitration again.

But that would likely be a lengthy process, which could tie both Harland & Wolff and Global Marine to an additional two years of legal proceedings.