The Russian client who ordered five superyachts from Sensation Yachts before it went out of business is buying the shipyard.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Selwood Road Trust, the corporation owned by the client, Valery Cheshinsky, is paying NZ$4.485 million (about US$3.619 million) to acquire the land and facility. The reason: to finish at least one of the three partially completed projects. Each yacht was to be 50 meters (164 feet) or larger.
The funds are being paid to HSBC, which took ownership of Sensation Yachts’ property in 2009. Two years prior, HSBC had loaned Ivan Erceg, then the owner of the shipyard, more than NZ$6 million (US$4.6 million at the time), but he defaulted on it in 2008.
This seems to be the final chapter in a long, arduous battle. Since acquiring Sensation, HSBC was attempting to have the hulls, construction equipment, computers, software, and other items taken off the grounds. The purpose was to sell the yard and regain its financial loss. Several creditors of Sensation Yachts argued against the move. Among them was Balenia, a Cayman Islands firm through which Cheshinsky reportedly ordered the megayachts. Balenia argued that the partially constructed hulls would be too difficult to move elsewhere. The High Court in Auckland, New Zealand agreed in a ruling last autumn, ordering the unused equipment except for the hulls to be removed and sold, so that the property could be sold.
Cheshinsky still has a long road ahead, given the need to purchase equipment and hire craftsmen. To put the situation into further perspective, the first megayacht was expected to be completed in 2005, with the last one finished by 2007.
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