Boskalis held a contract with Saren - a joint venture of Italian offshore engineering firm Saipem and Renaissance Heavy Industries - to prepare the foundation for the massive Arctic LNG 2 liquefaction terminal, a 20m tonne-per-annum plant near Novatek's Yamal LNG.
On 4 March Boskalis terminated its contract for the project with Saren BV after the start of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In turn, Saren made a claim against Boskalis for $42m for alleged breach of contract. Boskalis contested this suit, and in a summary proceeding 9 June, a judge ruled in its favour on all major points. The court found that Boskalis could not make any payments to either Saren or to the end client in Russia (Novatek).
A separate lawsuit in Russia targeted two vessels that Boskalis left behind at the Port of Murmansk, the dredger Nordic Giant and the rock-dumping pontoon barge Arctic Scradeway. A subsidiary of Novatek filed suit in a Murmansk court to seize the two ships, and on May 12, the court agreed and transferred them to the custody of St. Petersburg-based Onego Shipping - with permission to use them, according to state-owned media.
The invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, have put the timeline of the start of operations in doubt. The European Union now bans any export of goods or services related to natural gas liquefaction technology to Russian companies, and EU companies Technip and Linde are core technology providers for the plant.
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