UPDATE, FEBRUARY 21, 2017: Sailing Yacht A is no longer under admiralty arrest. A spokesperson for the owner tells us, “This unfortunate incident concerning Sailing Yacht A is now resolved. The yacht will now be handed over to the owner’s project team and will leave Gibraltar shortly.” Furthermore, the Gibraltar Chronicle quotes Nobiskrug’s lawyer as saying the money in escrow (mentioned in our article below) will remain as such until an additional agreement is reached. A Nobiskrug spokesperson tells us, “Nobiskrug is very content with the court’s decision. The court has followed our line of argument and has taken full account of our security interest.”
The original story from February 19 follows.
A dispute over payments for the construction of Sailing Yacht A has the megayacht under the control of admiralty marshals in Gibraltar.
According to the Gibraltar Chronicle, which cites Gibraltar Supreme Court documents, Nobiskrug filed a claim for breach of contract on Wednesday. (The island’s Supreme Court handles admiralty cases.) That’s the same day that Sailing Yacht A arrived in Gibraltar. The shipyard claims the last payment of €9.8 million (approximately $10.4 million at press time) remains unpaid. That payment was reportedly due on January 27. In the same court filing, Nobiskrug included two additional sums that it claims the owner owes. Those sums stem from subcontractor invoices as well as contested change orders. The Gibraltar Chronicle reports that the totals “are already the subject of a dispute” between the parties. They bring the total that Nobiskrug seeks to about €15.3 million (about $16.24 million), plus interest.
To be clear, financial disputes sometimes arise between owners and builders of custom and semi-custom megayachts. Those disputes also do sometimes land in court. A spokesperson for Sailing Yacht A tells the newspaper that a hearing is set for this week.
The same spokesperson, however, expressed shock to the newspaper over the yacht’s arrest. He says the final payment was the subject of ongoing talks between the owner and Nobiskrug. In addition, he calls the yacht’s arrest “an astounding act for a shipyard of Nobiskrug’s standing,” according to the Chronicle. “We assumed the matter was progressing to a resolution, as Nobiskrug were happy to release the yacht on February 5th to the owner’s project team for further works to be carried out in Spain,” he’s quoted as saying. Furthermore, he states that on February 6, the owner placed funds into an escrow account in anticipation of resolving the matter. Nobiskrug did not respond to requests from the newspaper for comments.
As of press time, the yacht remains at anchor in Gibraltar’s harbor.
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